Tamsin + Mitchell
Post Hotel Elopement at Lake Louise

It is no secret that I revel in weddings and elopements that are simple. Days that celebrate the individuals and the details are the wondrous Banff mountains and forests. So Tamsin and Mitchell’s elopement, planned in less than two weeks, for an early summer afternoon was perfection and an absolute joy to photograph. From a ceremony location that was decided minutes before, to Tamsin’s decidedly unwedding black jumpsuit, to barefoot meandering through glacial water – it was perfect.

Calling Brooklyn, NY home, these two flew back to Alberta to visit family after the unexpected year that is 2020. In what was to be a year of travel, instead, they quarantined for two weeks for several precious days to enjoy the mountains they enjoyed years before, and to enjoy the company of family that remains in Canada. Perhaps it was during quarantine or just as they hastily packed for their return to Canada, they decided to elope. Perhaps ‘elope’ as a term is even too formal, given how elopements now conjure the idea of grander events. A formal step, that is to later be celebrated amidst their friends and family when the world deems gatherings safe.

So in the middle of an early August day, I met them in their private cabin at the historic Post Hotel in Lake Louise. The Post Hotel is quickly becoming one of my absolute favourite Lake Louise wedding venues. In winter the coziness of the log cabins, paired with sloping roofs with icicles as tall as a grown man, and the library fireside ceremony spot makes it feel like a snowglobe. In summer, the cherry red roof, and immaculate gardens, paired with green and white awnings overlooking a lawn to enjoy the summer heat beneath Mount Temple is all parts reminiscent of turn of the century luxury paired with the comforts of a quiet weekend away.

After final preparation, they met John Stutz the commissioner in the hotel lobby and we made our way to where the Pipestone River and Bow River meet. They were married. The sun, high in the sky, glistened off the water as it coursed eastwards. The forest baked in the summer heat with the smell of pine needles. It was informal, vows and ring exchange to be saved for a celebration later. With a few words and niceties from John they were married, and off he disappeared into the forest from where we came.

Unless you have eloped it is hard to explain that post formal signing giddiness. Relief to have something so grandiose in our culture out of the way, and a bit of surprise at the simplicity of the whole thing. How being married, truly changes nothing, but somehow, just a little something between us had shifted. A day, such as Tamsin and Mitchell’s elopement, brought back that memory.

So there, behind the Post Hotel, they took their shoes off and waded through the glacier-fed waters where two rivers meet. They opened a bottle of champagne and cheersed to getting married with a couple of weeks notice. We ventured up to Lake Louise, only to be turned around on account of a full parking lot and instead found ourselves on the Lake Louise road during one of those rare windows where the Moraine Lake Road was open. So under a midday sun, we marvelled at our luck at finding ourselves at the most iconic location in Banff. We shielded our faces to see the Valley of the Ten Peaks, and tried to remember the name of Gatorade that Moraine Lake resembled. Sam shot expired film, and we delighted in the friendliness of the resident chipmunks.

Then they were back at the Post Hotel, to celebrate an elopement in all its simplicity.

Venue | The Post Hotel in Lake Louise . Commissioner | John Stutz in Banff . Second Photographer and Witness | Sam Hugh Photography in Canmore . Portraits | Moraine Lake in Banff National Park .