Unique Wedding Venue Ideas - Calgary Wedding Photographer

July 11, 2019

Unique Wedding Venue Ideas – Calgary Wedding Photographer

One of the biggest challenges Brides & Grooms face is finding the perfect wedding venue. There are so many hotels, conferences centers, and golf course that have the big budgets to advertise in the bridal fairs and wedding magazines for your area. That’s awesome and I have shot many weddings in these venues and they were absolutely stunning. That doesn’t mean that you HAVE to book your wedding at one of these locations. There are so many other smaller, unique spaces where you can hold a wedding. You just have to look outside the box.

Look into your favorite restaurants. A lot of them are happy to close the doors to the public for the day so you can have your wedding day there. The bonus of booking a restaurant that you like to go to is you already know their food and would be happy with them serving just about anything on their menu. In Calgary Bonterra Trattoria, The Lake House, Charbar, Teatro, Rouge Restaurant, The Dean House, The Ranche, Cilantro, Rodney’s Oyster House & Alloy Dinning are just some of the few dinning establishments that you can book for weddings.

The Lake House

Like history? Why not get married in a museum? The Calgary Aero Space Museum by the airport is full of vintage aircraft you can say “I Do” beneath including a Lancaster Bomber and a Twin Otter. There is also a stunning historic estate down in Lethbridge called the Norland which I am absolutely dying to shoot at! With white colonial columns, a wrap around porch and so much character it makes for a stunning backdrop for your wedding day!

The Gathered

If you are on more of a budget, an outdoor options might be just what you are looking for. There are many Calgary parks you can rent including the amphitheater at the Shannon Terrence entrance of Fishcreek Park or the grass amphitheater in Baker Park. You can also head over to the Airbnb website to check out acreages around Calgary that will rent you out their space. Many of them include the house for your getting ready photos and have enough land you can easily put tent up for coverage. Best part is, most of them sleep lots of people so it saves on hotel cost if you have wedding party guest coming in from out of town.

If more of a rustic charm is what you are looking for, there are many camps around Calgary that you can rent in their off seasons. Camp Chief Hector is one of these camps and is location in the Kananakis before Canmore. The bonus of booking an entire camp is you get to use the entire property. From the log cabin lodge to the wide open, mountain view fields it is all your to enjoy. Mount View BBQ in Banff, also is a very unique space with what they call “Donut” tents. These are round word beamed buildings that has a central bonfire space which provides warmth and an atmosphere that can’t be beat.

Little Bow Pheasant Ranch

If your wanting to stay closer to the city but still be away from the hustle and bustle of it all, a Bed & Breakfast might be your answer. Riverview Bed & Breakfast is located just outside of Calgary towards Okotoks and has an amazing location for an outdoor wedding ceremony. They also provide a getting ready space for the bride and her bridesmaids to use prior to the ceremony. With views overlooking the river, this ceremony view is really something you have to see to believe.

If you are on the hunt for your perfect wedding venue there are so many more interesting space out there then just the typical conference center. It does take a little digging to find them, but from a photographer and guest point of view, going for the unique and out of the box idea for your venue is always a good idea!