Elopement

Gorgeous and Natural Kelowna Backyard Elopement

January 18, 2021

British Columbia Elopement

The Couple

Charlee + Dominic

The Proposal

Dominic and I met in Kelowna, BC. After five years of being together, we decided it was time to do a big trip. I was born in Australia, and had made the move to Canada in 2013; since Dominic had never been down under, we decided it was finally time to bring him home to meet the family. We spent three months backpacking and road tripping around the east coast and to the centre of the outback, where Dominic proposed. He got down on one knee in the middle of the night while we were stargazing, trying to pick out the Australian constellations. It was very romantic!

– Bride, Charlee

The Elopement

Charlee and Dominic had been planning their special wedding day for more than two years, which was supposed to be held on May 8th, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic they had to cancel the large-scale wedding and decided on a small, elopement-style celebration instead. As their photographer, I spoke often on the phone with Charlee and Dominic to exchange ideas for how we could achieve a contactless wedding with only ten guests. I focused all my creative energies in order to realize the most beautiful wedding day possible within the constraints of this new normal. Charlee trusted me to source a pared-down list of vendors, and since the pandemic lockdown meant nobody could meet in person, we shared mood boards make sure we were all on the same page. The pandemic restrictions meant we had to make a number of changes to the original plans. Salons were not allowed to operate, but fortunately Charlee herself is a hairstylist by trade. She was able to cut Dominic’s hair and do her own hair and makeup on the wedding day. Our ideal location for the wedding was out in nature, but the provincial government was closing all the parks. After much consideration, they decided to elope in Dominic’s parents’ backyard instead. The couple got ready at the Manteo Resort Waterfront Hotel, a four-star establishment located on the shores of beautiful Okanagan Lake, and had a “First Touch” on the waterfront patio. The couple then met on top of Kuipers Peak, a nearby mountain vista overlooking the breathtaking desert landscape and the city of Kelowna below, for their emotional “First Look” moment. For the ceremony itself, Yuriko of Vintage Origami truly brought the Okanagan desert environment to Dominic’s parents’ back yard by creating a custom backdrop to the vows, and providing the perfect décor details. Charlie’s entrance to the ceremony was complemented by West Coast signer and composer Leila Neverland’s soulful cover of “At Last.”

– Wedding + Engagement Photographer, Tyler Meers Photography