The Film & Forest Blog
Planning guides, real elopement stories, and mountain wedding resources for Banff, Kananaskis, Canmore, Jasper, and beyond.
Plan by Region
Each region below has its own dedicated guide, written from years of shooting in each. Banff and Kananaskis are the most popular locations in the Rockies. Delve into these, and other Canadian Rockies locations (like Canmore, our hometown). Or, explore other locations around the world that make for stunning wedding locations.
Featured Regions
Canadian Rockies Guides
Canmore Wedding & Elopement Guide
From lodge ceremonies to mountain backyards (and the hometown we live in!)
Jasper Wedding & Elopement Guide
Big skies, fewer crowds, and dark-sky ceremonies under the Milky Way.
Beyond the Rockies
A handful of places we love enough to fly for. We’ve personally scouted each of these, and when you book a destination wedding with us, we double as your travel guides, providing vendor lists, lodging recs, weather windows, and more.
The Adventure Elopement & Micro Wedding Workbook
By Film & Forest
Planning an adventurous wedding is mostly exciting. The overwhelm sneaks in around the logistics, usually somewhere between picking a region and figuring out a Plan B for weather. This workbook is the same set of prompts, worksheets, and planning examples we walk our own couples through. Pulled into one PDF so you can sit down with it at the kitchen table and start sorting things out. Inside the workbook:
- Location comparison worksheets
- Timeline templates with hiking and helicopter examples
- Weather backup planning prompts
- Activity and location Q&A
- Ceremony vision exercises
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Planning Guides & Resources
Once you’ve picked a region, this is where the real planning starts. The guides below cover the legal paperwork, the gear, the ceremony, and the small logistics we’ve walked hundreds of couples through.
Start Here
How to Elope: The Ultimate Guide
A start-to-finish walkthrough for couples who want a real adventure, not a watered-down wedding.
Read the Guide
Helicopter
Helicopter Elopement Guide
How heli elopements actually work, what they cost, and where you can land.
Read the Guide
Legal
Getting Married in Alberta: Marriage License Guide
Where to get one, what it costs, and what you need to make it legal before the day.
Read the Guide
Ceremony
Ceremony Planning Guide
Officiants, vow writing, and how to build a ceremony that sounds like you two, not a template.
Read the Guide
Packing
Elopement Packing Checklist
What to actually pack for a mountain wedding day, including the small stuff most couples forget.
Read the Guide
Browse by Experience
Tap whichever sounds most like yours. Behind each one is a stack of real stories from couples who’ve done it. This is the easiest way to picture your own day as you plan!
Stories from the mountains . . .
Latest From the Field Journal
Every couple here said the same thing the night before: they were nervous. Then they got to the trailhead at 4am, or the lodge as the sun set, and they forgot about the cameras (yes, we had that much fun). Scroll through real stories from days we’ve captured, and find the ones that feel closest to yours
About Film & Forest Photography
Film & Forest is a wife-husband team of intimate wedding photographer and videographers based in Canmore, Alberta. We travel across Alberta and British Columbia to capture intimate weddings and adventurous elopements. From Tofino to Fernie, Banff, and beyond, we’ll be there to capture your adventure of a lifetime.
Ready to Start Planning?
Whether you already know the exact trail or you’re still deciding between Banff and the west coast, we’re here to help you create a day that feels adventurous and intentional. Think of us like your personal mountain-wedding-planning concierge, and let’s get chatting!