Chelsea + Kevin
Banff Vow Renewal Photography

As a Banff wedding photographer, I am given the absolute privilege of being invited into one of the most monumental days of a couple’s lives. To document their day from getting ready to reading their vows and promising to see each other through all remaining chapters of their lives, to dancing joyfully amongst their friends. I consider it such an important role to capture the family photos, a place marker of who was in your life, to capturing the landscapes in which you chose to celebrate, to the brushing of your fingertips as you move from table to table thanking your guests. Truly, what an honour.

But so often my part ends there. Sometimes I will continue to document a family as it grows, or I will hear years later how an image is held so important after the passing of a relative. But rarely do I get to celebrate and document a relationship which has gone through more than a few years of marriage.

So when Chelsea and Kevin reached out to ask me to document their 10th-anniversary vow renewal in Banff I was delighted. While I did not photograph their wedding day, their inquiry spoke of wanting to a day of simplicity. That they wished on their 10th year married, and after spending half their lives together, to make new promises to each and to their two girls in a beautiful setting. It would be just the four of them, and a hope to capture this time of their lives.

So on a hazy smoky down in the middle of September we met on a pull-off by a river and began our way to the chosen destination. A boulder, that perhaps had once rested near the top of the mountain, that was an awfully beautiful statement piece now resting on the valley floor as glacial silt water carved its way around it. The girls weren’t dissuaded by the rough terrain in their dresses or flats – bounding up ahead of us most of the way, gripping their bouquets they handmade with their parents.

Eventually, we caught sight of the boulder, and emerged from the forest. After positioning themselves in a spot that looked down the valley, underneath a glacier in the distance, and a wall of imposing rock hanging on another side, Chelsea and Kevin faced each other. They began reading their new vows. Truthfully, I don’t know what was said, the river muted their words. But that is as it should be, as their words were for each other, and for their girls to hear. I imagine many of the promises were statements very similar to what they read to each other a decade prior, but I also imagine many more were new and spoke to the knowledge they had gained over the years about themselves and each other.

The girls were silently busy, listening to their parents, observing the place they saw themselves in, admiring their bouquets. It reminded me of the time I was a flower girl at my cousin’s wedding – understanding the solemnity to a degree, but also delighting in being dressed up, and relishing being included in something special.

Once their vows were finished the girls went to exploring the pools and sand flats that surrounded us. They tossed stones, and their shoes filled with mud, as they forded the water that had strayed from the river. As we made our way back to the road, logs were vaulted over, and a fallen tree climbed. Their vow renewal in Banff was a perfect way to commemorate themselves as a couple, and to celebrate where they were going as a family.

If you are planning a vow renewal in Banff and are looking to have it photographed, I would so love to talk with you. You may be interested in my recommendations of the best private dining options for weddings, elopements, and vow renewals in Banff and Canmore.

Check out Lottie and Jack’s snowy elopement at Mount Engadine Lodge, or perhaps Cassie and Warren’s intimate backyard wedding in Northern British Columbia.