When I first laid eyes on Sam and Dustin's wedding photos, I just couldn't wait to feature their wedding day on In Bloom blog. Their wedding took place at the historic, Banff Springs Hotel in the picturesque, Canadian Rockies. It was a wedding every girl dreams of - classic, scenic and unbelievably breathtaking. But before we go any further discussing all things wedding, I just have to share how these two became a couple. Sam and Dustin met when they both worked at the same sports bar while going through university. Sam was a server and Dustin a bartender – classic love story! Except that Sam wanted nothing to do with Dustin for the first 10 months or so that they knew one another… at the time, Dustin was in his first year of law school and Sam was trying to decide where to go to law school. Dustin eventually tricked her into going to dinner with him by offering his insights about the College of Law at the University of Saskatchewan. Dinner to discuss education plans turned into their first date and the rest is history… Now for all things wedding wonderful.

When did you know he/she was the one?

Dustin: I think I knew pretty early on, but tried to fight it for a while. On our first vacation together to Maui in August 2011, we got lost while hiking. We had about one more hour of daylight and we were, quite literally, on the edge of a mountain, a ledge that was narrowing as we moved further. While trying to escape the Hawaiian wilderness unscathed, I realized Sam completely trusted me to get her out safely, and I realized she was the exact person I wanted on my team for all of life’s adventures. It was a powerful moment, but I took my time letting her know that ;)

Sam: there wasn’t really an exact moment. When he first took me to his hometown of Kyle, Saskatchewan, and I got a good sense of who he is, where he grew up, and who his family are, I knew I was in trouble. I quickly learned Dustin is genuinely caring and thoughtful and comes from a long line of strong family values. That piqued my interest… and then over the years, we just grew closer and, eventually, I could no longer conceptualize my life without Dustin in it. If you’re a Grey’s Anatomy fan, you’ll understand this reference: Dustin is my person. Simple as that.

You celebrated the most breathtaking wedding in the Canadian Rockies. How did you decide upon the historic and not to mention, stunning Banff Springs hotel for your location?

The Banff Springs Hotel is classic, timeless, perfection. The service is old-world five star and in our (admittedly biased) opinion, it is one of the most remarkable hotels in Canada. We wanted our wedding day to feel timeless and to offer our guests an unforgettable experience. What better way to accomplish that goal than by having our wedding in a breathtaking castle in the Rockies?

Your destination wedding was far enough "to get away" but close enough for friends and family to commute to easily. What made Banff the perfect setting for you?

We love Banff – the mountains have a majestic effect on us and we wanted to share that with friends and family. We decided on the “destination” element because the vast majority of our friends and family would be travelling to attend our wedding regardless of where we hosted it. Dustin played NCAA hockey in upstate New York throughout his undergrad and so many of his friends live across the U.S. and even Europe, and my family is spread across North America. It just made sense to give everyone an opportunity to enjoy not just our wedding, but some of the most incredible scenery Canada has to offer: the Rockies. For anyone travelling from Saskatchewan, it wasn’t too far to drive, and for everyone who had to fly, the road to Banff makes for a pretty stunning drive after a long flight. For us personally, we absolutely love that Banff is a special place for us now and that it’s easily accessible from Saskatoon, where we live.

Were there any challenges getting married away from home? Would you pass along any advice to brides-to-be who are considering a destination wedding?

We can’t imagine planning a destination wedding without a wedding planner. Callandra Caufield of Postcard Weddings (a division of Lynn Fletcher Weddings) provided full planning services, helping us to select and book vendors, organizing vendors’ contracts, managing our budget, and ultimately turning our vision into reality. The day of, we had nothing to worry about because between the staff at the Banff Springs and our planner’s team, everything was handled, from all of the set up and take down, to making sure everything and everyone was where it needed to be and when – the day itself could not have run more smoothly. So our advice then would definitely be to hire a wedding planner if it’s within your budget. If it’s not, then try to plan a pre-wedding trip to your destination to meet with vendors (cake, florals, hair/makeup, commissioner, DJ, venue, etc.) to sample and book as much as possible, and make sure you are clear with your vendors and your family/friends about your wedding day vision and (perhaps most importantly) your timeline for the day. Feeling 100% confident in our team of vendors made the planning process and the wedding day itself an absolute breeze!

What was the most memorable part of your day?

Oh gosh, there are so many – everyone says this, but seeing each other for the first time as Sam walked down the aisle was pretty amazing. Family members who had not yet had an opportunity to meet all got along like old friends and it felt so good to see our families come together.

Also… (Sam) I’d be lying if I didn’t say I absolutely loved wearing my wedding dress and feeling truly beautiful all day. (Dustin) I loved the party – visiting with all our favorite people all in one place was incredible.

Please tell us a bit about the ceremony and reception - how did you celebrate your love?

Our vision for the day was soft neutrals, natural greenery, and an elegant, timeless, romantic feel. We wanted our ceremony to feel personal and to truly reflect us as a couple. We chose Barbara Parker of Threshold Ceremonies as our commissioner, and she was incredible. She spent hours leading up to the wedding getting to know us, digging into our pasts, our goals, our dreams, and what makes us “us”. Our ceremony told our story perfectly and represented everything that matters to us as a couple. We held our ceremony in the Mt. Stephen Hall at the Banff Springs – it was actually supposed to be outside on the Terrace, but the weather did not cooperate. Surprisingly, when our planner called us the day before the wedding to tell us she’d made the call and was moving the ceremony indoors, we weren’t disappointed at all. The room is absolutely breathtaking and we were able to bring some of the outdoors in with florals and natural greenery in our decor… and the cloudy day actually made for great photos! I think it’s true, what they say about rainy wedding days, they are good luck!

Ultimately, we wanted the event to be seamless and unforgettable for our guests. After the ceremony, as we went off to take photos, our guests were given a tour of the Banff Springs and then led back to Mt. Stephen Hall for cocktails before dinner and dancing. It was important to us that our guests felt comfortable and that the event felt “family style” so instead of a raised head table, we chose to have our head table bisect the room and our wedding party’s significant others all sat with us. The evening was full of visiting, laughter, and dancing. Just before the first course of dinner was served, the clouds cleared and the sun came out over the Bow Valley. We grabbed our photographers and videographers and took advantage of the opportunity to get some photos of the views from the Terrace, but our photo session quickly turned into dancing on the Terrace. Dancing for the first time as husband and wife, with no music, as tourists stood by watching, with the mountains and the castle surrounding us is a moment we will never forget.

Sam and Dustin's Local Love Guide for vendors in the beautiful Banff region.

Bride’s dress: Inbal Dror

Bride’s Shoes: Badgley Mischka

Groom’s Tux: Hugo Boss

Florist: Lyn Chapman of Flower Artistry

Wedding Planner: Postcard Weddings (a division of Lynn Fletcher Weddings)

Stationery: Pink Umbrella Designs

Wedding day beauty: Mountain Beauties

Photographer: Mark Derry Photography

Videographer: HelloTomorrow Films

Venue: The Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel

Marriage Commissioner: Barbara Parker, Threshold Ceremonies

Wedding day Transportation: Highland Limousine

Wedding cupcakes: Kake by Darci, Canmore

We can't get over how beautiful your wedding day was, Sam and Dustin. Thank you for sharing your incredible wedding memories. And to Mark Derry for some of the most breathtaking photos - we're walking around with hearts in our eyes.