Haley and Evan

PHOTOGRAPHER MCKENZIE JESPERSEN mckenziejespersen.com

Originally from Alberta, Evan from Calgary

and Haley High River, they both grew up ski racing - Evan with the Fernie Alpine Ski Team and Haley originally at Castle Mountain, joining the Fernie ski team in high school. “Evan and I became fast friends, which obviously blossomed into more over time,” Haley says.

Over the last 10 years or so, Haley and Evan have lived in Ontario, Calgary, and Vancouver always making time to return to Fernie for skiing and biking adventures with friends and family.

“In recent years, both of our parents moved to Fernie, and we have siblings, cousins, and aunts and uncles in the area. With our love for the mountains and Fernie culture, along with a desire to be close to our families, we decided to follow suit and move to Fernie earlier this year!”

Fernie was always where the couple had planned to get married, for many reasons but most importantly because of its significance of where they originally met and got to know one another. They loved the idea of getting married in a place they had a strong connection to, “and the beauty of the surrounding area made it an easy decision,” Haley adds. Additionally, they recognized what a fantastic place Fernie is to visit so were excited to have the opportunity to host their friends and family visiting from out of town.

Haley and Evan utilized many of Fernie’s boutique and unique businesses to help execute their wedding. They worked with wedding planner Lush Kootenay, booked the Elk View Lodge for their celebration, had their floral arrangements done by Stemhouse Floral Studio, hair and makeup done by No.3 Salon, used marriage commissioner Lynn Rogers, booked Fernie Catering Co. to prepare their menu, and had DJ Goff keep people on their feet into the evening.

Instead of focusing on a style and theme, Haley and Evan focused on how they wanted the day to feel, “and everything grew from there. I made a haphazard mood board and had a prettyunconstrained colour pallet - no regrets! With all this in hand, I picked out things that I liked and everything fell into place. We splurged a bit on a few things and thrifted others. Looking back, I would say our wedding had a romantic, earthy, elegant, and intimate vibe (with a side of larch) - and we loved every part of it!” Haley says.

We love this approach, and think it worked out beautifully! Congratulations, Haley and Evan and welcome to Fernie!

What is your favourite moment of your wedding day?

Haley: I have many favourite moments, but overall, having our closest friends and family celebrate with us was very special - you could really feel the love in the room! We’ve been together for many years, so we have a lot of amazing relationships, both individually and as a couple. The entire day was filled with great conversations, laughs, hugs, and happy tears, and we have so many wonderful memories.

Evan: The ceremony - having all our close friends and family in a beautiful room with a mountain backdrop behind us as we said our vows was magical.

What advice would you give other couples planning their own wedding?

Take time to plan out the things that really matter to you and then don’t sweat the small stuff on things that don’t. We tried to focus our energy on making the day a fun and memorable experience that reflected who we are as individuals and a couple, and less on making everything perfect. We tried to remind ourselves of this whenever we got overwhelmed with planning! Also, if friends and family offer to help, take them up on it. Many hands make light work - a big thank you to everyone who helped us!

What were some of the unique elements of your day?

We somehow managed to nail the timing with the beautiful fall colours, particularly the larch trees! They made for spectacular views and photos. The weather on our wedding day was ‘mixed’ to say the least, but the stormy skies parted in the evening made for the most spectacular, dramatic sunset. We also included many of our friends and family in various parts of the wedding ceremony and reception and it was very special to have our loved ones play a role in the day. A memorable example was having our niece (who wasn’t able to walk on her own yet) push a wagon down the aisle as our flower girl - we are biased, but think it was the cutest wedding feature possible.