by Sharon Auld

We recently shared a sneak peek of the Rustic Mountain Wedding Elegance, inspirational shoot:  “Emerald Apparition”, that was created for the latest edition of Luxe by Calgary Bride magazine (on newsstands now) at the incredibly spectacular, Emerald Lake Lodge.

It was an absolute pleasure to work with some of the most talented wedding professionals in the area: including Trish & Matt of  f8 Photography Inc.; Lyn Chapman of Flower Artistry and her assistant Nancy, and Alissa of Plush Invitations to name a few, to make this shoot possible.

I wanted to share our inspiration behind the shoot. Some time ago and Lyn and I were talking about how great it would be to do a truly, elegant rustic wedding shoot. Lyn envisioned doing a beautiful, floral canopy, complete with chandelier, on a rustic arch.  We both wanted to show the ceremony and the reception with her flowers. I too had been dreaming of an elegant, rustic mountain wedding inspiration and my vision took me straight to Canadian Rocky Mountain Resorts‘, Emerald Lake Lodge. Though I had done countless, real wedding ceremonies on the Cilantro on the Lake patio, I dreamed of a beautiful tablescape overlooking the beautiful emerald waters, with the majestic Mount Burgess looking on. It just had to be there! Of course, the dream wasn’t a reality yet until Trish approached Lyn with the idea of us all doing a shoot together. Trish and Matt had shot some amazing winter weddings with us at Emerald Lake Lodge, and it was time to do another season (as every season at Emerald Lake is stunning). The seed was born and we were so excited to be able to take this inspiration and have the honor of it being published in the beautiful Luxe by Calgary Bride magazine! We hope you love it as much as we do!

I worked with the fabulous Alissa, from Plush Invitations to come up with not only the wedding invitation suite but also a look (and ‘logo’) to thread throughout our elegant, rustic theme. I knew I wanted an elegant look, with antlers and crown and Alissa came up with some beautiful designs from my vision. Together we worked to create the beautiful custom pieces. Alissa printed the paper pieces and I engraved the wood pieces that included a wood presentation box.

Don from Naturally Chic built all the wood pieces including the custom arch and pillars and Lyn created the amazing floral pieces as well as the custom floral ceiling, while I made the custom signage.

I love these beautiful shots from Trish and Matt as they captured the beauty of the scenery and decor! I chose a muted, sparkly linen from Celebration Creation. My goal was to keep the colors muted so as not to compete with the emerald waters, the stunning florals, and the rustic woods.

Our ‘groom’ Tyler read from his custom vow books, while our beautiful ‘bride’ Bailey and junior bridesmaid and flower girl (Molly and Mim) looked on.

The bride and the girls were beautifully outfitted by Cameo and Cufflinks and the groom, handsome in his attire from Ed Williams Menswear. The floral arch was made with hundreds of blooms.

I love the  bouquets and floral headpieces by the Flower Artistry team.

Bailey is a true beauty and she looked stunning! Thank you to the talented Jenna from Canmore & Banff Makeup Artistry and Joanne from Mountain Beauties for making her and Molly and Mim even more beautiful.

I chose simple, escort cards to sit in the organically shaped place card holders we made. Lots of candles and a few organic pieces, such as the naturally shed antler to complement the look.

The majestic linen was again from Celebration Creation.

I chose simple organic, lines and organically shaped, bone china dinnerware. A custom engraved wood menu and place card holder completed the place settings.

Each guest received a custom wood and leather bag that Don and myself handcrafted. Each bag was personalized with the guests’ names. The bags were filled with a mini champagne bottle, custom smores package, trail mix and more.

Our custom wood cake topper sat high on muted, ombre toned tiers of cake by Buttercream Bakeshoppe.

I made custom, wood chair signs for the bride and grooms chairs and a ribbon and brooch to contrast with the hard lines of the wood.

As well, I made custom monogrammed signs for Tyler and Bailey.

Other favor items included water bottles wrapped with custom engraved, wood wrappers.

The day was absolutely beautiful, and the evening completely magical!

Rustic Elegant Mountain Wedding by Naturally Chic

Emerald Lake is truly magical! Thank you so much to Luxe by Calgary Bride for featuring us in your amazing magazine and to Canadian Rocky Mountain Resorts for having us out at Emerald Lake Lodge.

Of course a very special thank you to our amazing models Tyler and Bailey, and Molly and Mim who were fantastic for without them our day wouldn’t be complete!!

The Creative Team for  this rustic, elegance wedding inspiration: