Planning your wedding is an incredibly special experience. The final event provides couples with a memorable day to celebrate their love, surrounded by those they hold dear.
As the past few years have reminded us all too vividly, however, sometimes our original plans encounter a few hiccups (big or small) that may lead to a need to postpone your intended wedding date. Personal reasons, unexpected life updates, and even global or environmental events can influence postponing your wedding. While making this decision is rarely easy and often comes with a fair amount of stress and emotion for the wedding couple, delays also bring the chance to embrace change and create a magical new experience that showcases your love in unexpected ways! At Elope in Banff (EIB), we’re proud to offer our couples a unique opportunity to celebrate their love and devotion to each other with true elopements and intimate micro weddings in Alberta’s magical Rocky Mountains in Banff, Canmore, and the surrounding area. Whether you’ve always dreamed of a small wedding (or going the age-old ‘shotgun’ route and pulling a true elopement!), or find yourself needing to re-plan your special day, we’re here to help you create the perfect ceremony in the Rockies.
With thousands of happy couples under our belt, Elope in Banff loves love, and what we love even more is removing the stress of planning your (little) big day, so all you have to do is show up, celebrate and be wed! Below, we’ll offer a few tips for what to do if you have to postpone your wedding, as well as the perks of planning a micro wedding with the help of a talented team like EIB! Read on to learn more!
Sometimes, Life Has Unexpected Plans For Us…
As we mentioned earlier, there are many reasons couples may find themselves needing or wanting to change their original wedding plans. From a new job to expanding families, unexpected life changes, severe weather, or even global events that make it difficult to travel to your intended destination, life can throw us curveballs when we least expect it.
If you’ve had to postpone your wedding or are facing the prospect of doing so due to unforeseen circumstances, below are a few key tips to keep in mind:
1. Breathe, embrace change
Please know that we deeply understand that making sudden changes and “going with the flow” is often easier said than done, and it’s perfectly understandable to feel conflicted (more on that in a moment).
It’s also okay to allow yourself to breathe and embrace the fact that a wedding is just one day in your love story. Encountering the unexpected and conquering it together is part of what makes marriage so special. Remember: you’re in this as a team, and you will find the right path forward, so try to stay positive as you pivot!
2. It’s okay to ‘grieve’ your original plans
While embracing and ‘rolling with’ changes certainly makes handling a postponement easier, it’s just as important to acknowledge and be authentic with your feelings. Since postponements often result from the unexpected, it can be difficult to process exactly how we feel, and unresolved emotions can lead to stress and even resentment down the line. Before you dive into the process of notifying guests (if necessary) and replanning, take a moment to pause, sit together, and discuss your thoughts, frustrations and hopes going forward. Give yourself permission to feel disappointed, angry, sad, and in some cases-relieved that you get to plan something that’s a little more you!
3. Focus on what matters to you
Once you’ve had time to process, one of the most effective ways to move forward is to focus on what matters most for your replanned ceremony. It’s not uncommon for postponements to give couples a new perspective on what “really matters” to them for their special day. An unexpected shakeup can make it clear what you do and don’t care about and give you the opportunity to plan a day that truly puts your dreams at the centre of everything.
Micro Weddings: The Perfect Intimate Ceremony
One of the biggest changes people make when replanning a postponed wedding is significantly scaling down the size of their ceremony. Modern nuptials have been trending toward more intimate affairs for quite some time, but micro weddings usher in a new era where the guest lists are even smaller to create the most intimate atmosphere possible. Micro weddings range in size from as few as 5 guests but tend to max out at no more than 30-50 attendees.
At Elope in Banff, for example, our ceremonies are scaled to a maximum of 20 guests to provide an intimate, welcoming atmosphere that allows everyone to relax and focus on what matters most: your love!
Some of the top benefits of micro weddings and elopements include:
A More Intimate Celebration
As we mentioned above, one of the biggest perks of smaller weddings is that the focus shifts from entertaining a large party of guests to truly focusing on the excitement and joy that comes when a couple joins together to celebrate their love and commitment to one another. While larger ceremonies certainly can be intimate, they can also bring stress and leave couples feeling overwhelmed as they feel obligated to try and mingle with each of their guests, typically leaving them with little room to actually enjoy themselves.
By reducing your guest list and focusing on including your nearest and dearest, you create a stress-free environment that allows everyone to relax and mingle and, most importantly, allows the wedding couple the luxury of being present and engaged in every part of their special day!
Creative and Personalized Details
With fewer guests and a more manageable event, couples often feel freer to make sure their ceremony incorporates personal touches that highlight the unique aspects of their relationship. From personalized vows to choosing a bespoke outdoor location that incorporates your love of nature, a Rocky Mountain elopement is the perfect way to embrace the joy of micro weddings.
Elope in Banff offers several stunning settings, including multiple outdoor locations and indoor ceremonies at the iconic Banff Springs Hotel, Lake Louise. Whether you dream of a lakeside ceremony or a cozy celebration in a majestic “castle,” the natural beauty of Banff makes your micro wedding truly magical.
Budget-Friendly Option
Micro weddings can be a more budget-friendly option for couples, giving you the chance to invest in what’s most important to you. When choosing a destination elopement or micro wedding in the Rockies, for example, you can use what you save when reducing your guest count to afford a longer staycation/honeymoon or to treat yourself to the many fine dining, spa, and activity options you’ll find in and around Banff!
Turning a Postponement Into an Opportunity
While postponing your wedding day can feel discouraging, it’s important to remember that it doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your dream celebration. A micro wedding offers the chance to refocus on what truly matters—celebrating your love with the people who mean the most to you. At Elope in Banff, we’re proud to help our couples create their perfect (little) big day and remove all of the stress associated with planning so you can focus on the most wonderful part of all: creating new memories together as you celebrate the promise of a life full of love, laughter and connection.
Learn more about our micro wedding and Rocky Elopement packages in Alberta here or by contacting our team today!