From the beginning, skiing sat at the centre of Ryan and Stephanie’s relationship. They spent a lot of time on the mountains while they were dating, so when it came to planning their wedding, they couldn’t imagine going anywhere else. However they wanted a new adventure too, so chose Zermatt in Switzerland, a resort neither of them had been to before, as their location.

“We definitely knew we wanted a ski adventure wedding”, Stephanie said. “We bonded early in our relationship over our love of skiing. We wanted an outdoor ceremony with a gorgeous backdrop, a carefree feel. Well we pretty much skipped all sense of tradition and I’m so glad we did! We exchanged vows privately with one another with the Matterhorn as our only witness. It was a sacred, special, slowed down moment in a day filled with fast paced adventure. think the most unique part of our day was our helicopter tour to a glacier, where we had our first dance and champagne toast!”

Ryan’s best friend Derek officiated and they (plus their photographer and videographer) all rode the gondola up together, then skied down to the ceremony site. Steph’s best friend Cindy was also there. “After a few special words said by Derek, Ryan and I hiked off a little ways to a private spot where we exchanged vows”, Stephanie explained, “Our photographer snapped some absolutely epic photos of us during our vow exchange.” After the ceremony, a helicopter lifted them from the mountain to a glacier.

When the adventure side of the day wrapped, they returned to their hotel, changed out of ski gear, and headed to dinner. The celebration continued later at Mamacita’s in downtown Zermatt, a spot they had discovered earlier in the trip. A live band played and they stayed on the dance floor until the night ended.

“It’s hard to pick one thing of the day that was our favourite”, Stephanie concluded. “However, I would say everywhere we went on the mountain that day, people were cheering us on. Every moment felt like we were the main characters in a movie. When we stopped for our lunch, the entire patio of the restaurant stood as we walked in and cheered us on. Even though none of them knew us. We felt so insanely special the entire day.”