Photography by Unspoken Photography.
A black wedding gown. A cathedral-length black veil. Dark florals. Towering trees. River-carved rock. Private vows. Ten of their closest people.
And an Indigenous Star Blanket ceremony on a day that carried particular meaning for Valerie and her family.
Valerie and Zachary were married at Sooke Potholes Provincial Park on Vancouver Island on September 30, 2026 — the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
For Valerie, who is Indigenous, the date and the traditions they incorporated into their ceremony made the day especially meaningful.
And visually, this Sooke Potholes elopement was exactly what Val had been describing to us from the beginning:
Timeless. Cinematic. Dramatic. Dark.
Once she stepped into the forest in a black wedding gown and black cathedral-length veil, the entire vision came together.
A love story that started at Army Cadets
Valerie and Zachary met through Army Cadets in Grande Prairie in 2015.
Val became Zach's 2IC — second-in-command — and working together meant they quickly became close.
Zach remembers Val as smart, capable, kind and shy. In fact, he used to brag to the other platoon commanders that he had the best second-in-command.
Val's first impression was that Zach was confident and funny.
Although technically, Val may have known where this was going before Zach did becaus in June 2016, Zach walked past Val and her friend while he was dating someone else. Val, already firmly in crush territory, turned to her friend and announced:
“He'll be mine by the end of the year.”
Her friend didn't believe her.
Five months later, Valerie and Zachary were dating and they've been together since November 30, 2016.
So yes.
Val fully manifested this one!
Ten years of growing up together
One of the things we loved while getting to know Val and Zach was how differently they described one another — and how perfectly those descriptions fit together.
Val loves Zach's humour and calm nature. She's naturally more reserved, while Zach can become the social butterfly when needed. He's level-headed, adaptable and seems to intuitively know how to meet Val wherever she's at.
Zach describes Val as quick-witted, thoughtful and deliberate.
He loves that she knows who she is and stands firmly in her beliefs. He described a depth and solidity to her that grounds him — along with the fact that whenever he catches himself staring at her, she inevitably notices and has a quick remark ready for him.
They're not a couple who needed their wedding to prove anything about their relationship because they'd already spent nearly a decade building it.
They had travelled together, grown up together and even spent their three-month anniversary on a Cadet trip to Italy.
At one point, Val spent two weeks in Brazil for school — the longest they'd ever been apart. The distance made Val realize how seriously she wanted to marry Zach, while Zach realized how much brighter his days felt with Val in them.
So when they started thinking about a wedding, they didn't want something huge.
They wanted something small, intimate and on their own timeline, during their tenth year together.
Photography by Unspoken Photography.
The world's most Valerie-and-Zachary proposal
There technically was a proposal.
Kind of.
Val loves jewelry, so when it came time to look at engagement rings, she was very involved in choosing hers.
As she put it, she wasn't about to end up with a ring she wasn't 100% obsessed with.
Fair.
Zach eventually tried to propose in a college hallway in Grande Prairie.
Val immediately pulled him back up because the moment just… wasn't it.
And Zach never really re-proposed.
Val kept the ring.
They continued their relationship.
And eventually they decided to get married.
Honestly, there is something very charming about a couple who had already chosen each other so thoroughly that the official proposal became almost beside the point.
Planning a dark and moody Vancouver Island elopement
When Val first came to us, she had a much clearer idea of the feeling she wanted than the exact location.
She pictured tall trees and lots of greenery, ideally with water somewhere nearby — a wooded stream, waterfall or lake.
The colour palette was equally atmospheric: burgundy, dark orange, blue, black and green.
And when it came to their photographs, Val was very specific.
She didn't want overly posed or cheesy wedding photographs.
She wanted their images to feel timeless, cinematic and dramatic, with dark vibes.
That became our North Star when we started looking for Vancouver Island elopement locations.
How they chose Sooke Potholes for their elopement
Because Valerie and Zachary live in Langford, they had an advantage that many of our destination elopement couples don't:
They could actually go scout our location recommendations themselves.
Some of the possibilities we explored included Goldstream Provincial Park, Creyke Point, Sandcut Beach and Elk Lake.
Goldstream initially seemed like an obvious contender for the forest atmosphere they wanted, although trail closures and the amount of activity in the park made it less appealing once they visited.
They explored Creyke Point too.
And then they went to Sooke Potholes Provincial Park and that was it for them!
The river.
The forest.
The rock formations.
The sound of the water.
The moody West Coast feeling.
Most importantly, the area they chose could be reached with roughly a two-minute walk, which gave them the wild, natural setting they wanted without turning the ceremony into a hike for their guests.
Val later described the location as serene and easy to access.
Sometimes location scouting is exactly that: you can look at a hundred photographs online, and then you stand somewhere in person and immediately know.
Photography by Unspoken Photography.
Is Sooke Potholes a good place to elope?
For the right couple, Sooke Potholes can be an incredible Vancouver Island elopement location.
The landscape gives you several things within one area: forest, river, dramatic rock formations and the darker Pacific Northwest atmosphere that many couples picture when they imagine getting married on Vancouver Island.
It can also work well for an intimate wedding with a small guest list when you choose your ceremony area carefully.
Valerie and Zachary wanted around ten guests to be comfortably present for their ceremony.
That added another layer to the planning.
Because Sooke Potholes is a provincial park, we needed to consider park requirements and permissions rather than simply arriving and setting up wherever we wanted.
The location all became part of the logistics behind what ultimately looked like a very simple gathering beside the river.
Which is kind of the point.
The couple shouldn't have to see all the logistics happening behind the scenes.
A wedding date with deeper meaning
Valerie and Zachary chose September 30 — the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada — for their wedding.
For Val, as an Indigenous woman, that date held personal significance.
They also incorporated Indigenous traditions into their ceremony, including smudging and a Star Blanket unity ceremony.
These weren't aesthetic additions or wedding trends.
They were meaningful elements connected to Val, her family and her culture.
Being invited to witness and help facilitate those moments was something our team treated with a lot of respect.
Photography by Unspoken Photography.
A black wedding dress in the middle of the Vancouver Island forest
Okay, we need to give this dress its own moment.
Val wore a black Maggie Sottero wedding gown with a black cathedral-length veil.
Against the deep greens of Sooke Potholes, the dark rock and the river, it was UNREAL.
From the beginning of planning, Val had been incredibly clear that she didn't want her wedding photographs to feel bright, traditional or overly posed. She wanted them to feel timeless, cinematic, dramatic and dark.
The black gown wasn't just a fun alternative to a traditional white wedding dress.
It made complete sense within the entire visual story we'd been planning.
She paired it with dark red and purple florals that trailed slightly lower than a traditional bouquet, along with several pieces of jewelry she had intentionally chosen for the day.
Her jewelry included tanzanite, engagement and heart rings, two bracelets, a locket necklace and long white-and-blue gemstone earrings.
And then there was that veil.
A black cathedral-length veil moving through the forest was basically a photographer's dream.
Against the greens, greys and rocky landscape of Sooke Potholes, it gave Val exactly the dark, romantic feeling she had envisioned months before the wedding.
This was one of those situations where the location, styling and couple didn't just individually look beautiful.
They all belonged together.
A quiet wedding morning at home
Their wedding morning started separately.
Valerie got ready at home in Langford while Zach got ready nearby with family.
Hanna (hair and makeup) travelled over to Vancouver Island for Val's hair and makeup, while the rest of our team made their way over on the ferry.
There was breakfast, hair and makeup, florals to pick up, outfits to put on.
And, because this is an elopement timeline made by us, an actual reminder to EAT before leaving. (you’re welcome)
Very glamorous.
Very necessary.
Once everyone was ready, Val and Zach made their way separately to Sooke Potholes so Zach wouldn't see the black gown before their first look.
A private first look and vows before anyone arrived
One of Val and Zach's biggest priorities was protecting part of their wedding day for themselves.
Their guests mattered enormously.
And they didn't want every moment to be public.
So we planned their first look and private vows before the ceremony, while it was still just the two of them and their team.
When they arrived at Sooke Potholes, they stayed separately in their vehicles while we got everything into position.
Zach headed down first.
Then Val.
Photography coverage began with their first look and private vows before their guests arrived.
There was also no traditional aisle entrance planned for later.
Val had told us from the beginning that she didn't really want to “walk down the aisle.”
So she didn't.
When their guests arrived, Val and Zach were already together and ready to begin.
One less wedding tradition included simply because you're “supposed” to do it.
Photography by Unspoken Photography.
An Indigenous Star Blanket ceremony at Sooke Potholes
Wwith their closest family and friends gathered around them, Valerie and Zachary's ceremony began.
They exchanged rings.
They incorporated smudging.
And then came a very meaningful moment in their afternoon: their Star Blanket unity ceremony.
Val's mom brought the blanket forward.
Valerie and Zachary were wrapped together in it while their friend Faith (Val’s friend) spoke and explained the significance of the moment.
The cliffs and river created this incredible natural backdrop around them, while their family and friends watched from just a few feet away.
It was personal and connected to who Val is.
And because they weren't trying to fit their ceremony into a predetermined wedding script, there was space for that tradition to actually be the centre of the moment.
What is a Star Blanket ceremony?
Star Blankets hold cultural significance within a number of Indigenous communities and may be given or used to honour people during important moments and transitions.
Their meanings, teachings and protocols are not universal across Indigenous cultures, so this isn't something we'd ever suggest adding to a ceremony simply because a couple likes how it looks.
For Valerie and Zachary, the blanket ceremony was included because it was meaningful to Valerie, her family and her Indigenous identity.
That's an important distinction.
When cultural traditions belong to you and your family, an elopement can actually create a beautiful amount of space for them — without needing to squeeze them between a dozen conventional wedding traditions that mean less to you.
Signing their marriage licence to Greta Van Fleet
Even the marriage licence signing was intentionally theirs.
Instead of treating the paperwork like the boring administrative part of the ceremony, they had “Saw You Stand” by Greta Van Fleet playing while they signed, with Annabelle and Zach's dad Wayne serving as witnesses.
Music had always mattered to them.
When we originally asked which song represented their relationship, they chose Lonely Day by System of a Down — a song and band they both love and one Val had imagined using for either an aisle entrance or their first look.
This is one of my favourite things about intimate weddings.
When you're not trying to entertain 150 people, the little choices don't need to make sense to anyone else.
Your ceremony music can simply be music that means something to you.
Photography by Unspoken Photography.
Cinematic portraits, a black cathedral veil and... Corn Pops
After the ceremony, we moved into family photographs and then gave Val and Zach some more time for couple portraits.
This was where the entire dark, cinematic vision really came alive.
Val's black wedding gown and black cathedral-length veil against the green forest, river and pale rock created exactly the kind of contrast she'd imagined when she told us she wanted her wedding photographs to feel dramatic rather than traditionally bridal.
There was movement in the dress and there was veil everywhere!
There were dramatic portraits along the rocks and river, and then there were Corn Pops references.
The photographs look like these two had wandered straight out of some beautifully dark romantic film, and they were actually having a genuinely good time.
Sarah asked them to whisper their favourite cereal to each other in the sexiest voice they possibly could.
Which is apparently how we ended up with:
Corn Pops.
It completely cracked them up and I love that contrast.
The photographs can be dramatic. The dress can be black. The veil can be cathedral-length. The scenery can look straight out of a dark Pacific Northwest fairytale, and the two people in the middle of it can still be standing there losing it over breakfast cereal.
Why we planned the reception for the next day
One of the smartest choices Val and Zach made was deciding that their wedding celebration didn't need to fit into one day.
They wanted a ceremony.
They wanted portraits.
They wanted quiet time.
They wanted a campfire.
They wanted a proper dinner with their families.
Trying to squeeze all of that into September 30 would have meant spending the day watching the clock.
So we didn't.
Instead, their wedding became a two-day Vancouver Island elopement experience.
Wedding day was for getting married.
The next day was for the dinner.
Simple.
Charcuterie, s'mores and stargazing after the ceremony
After finishing photographs at Sooke Potholes, everyone headed back to Val and Zach's home.
There was no formal reception waiting.
Instead, they had prepared charcuterie ahead of time.
Later that evening, they built a campfire.
They roasted s'mores.
They stargazed.
Their guests headed home around 8:00 p.m.
And then Val and Zach got the ending we had intentionally built into their timeline:
Draw a bath.
Put on their favourite song.
Dance together in their living room while the bath fills.
Get in.
And be married.
No grand exit required.
A day-after reception at Sea Cider Farm & Cider House
The celebration wasn't quite over.
The following afternoon, October 1, everyone gathered again at Sea Cider Farm & Cider House on the Saanich Peninsula.
This time there were no hiking shoes, ceremony logistics or wedding portraits to think about.
Just dinner with their families gathered around the table for a proper sit-down meal, followed by toasts from Valerie's parents and Zachary's parents and cake afterward.
Splitting an intimate wedding across two days can be such an underrated option, particularly for local Vancouver Island couples.
You don't have to choose between an adventurous outdoor elopement and a traditional meal with your family.
You can have both.
They just don't have to happen within six hours of each other.
Photography by Unspoken Photography.
Can you have guests at a Sooke Potholes elopement?
Yes — depending on your chosen location, group size and current park requirements.
Val and Zach wanted a micro wedding rather than a just-us-two elopement, with around ten of their closest people present.
They also specifically told us during planning that some of the most private parts — like their first look and vows — should remain just theirs.
That's exactly how we structured the day.
Their guests weren't following them around for hours while they took portraits. They joined them for the part where their presence mattered most for them: The ceremony.
This can be such a good balance for couples who want an intimate Vancouver Island elopement experience without giving up having their parents, siblings or closest friends there when they actually get married.
Do you need a permit to get married at Sooke Potholes?
Yes. If you're considering a Sooke Potholes wedding or elopement, don't assume that because it's a public outdoor space you can simply arrive and set up a ceremony.
Requirements can depend on your plans, group size, photography, equipment, chairs or other setup.
For Valerie and Zachary, their elopement required us to think through permissions as well as where and how everything could be set up and removed without disrupting the park.
Park rules and requirements can change, so they're something we verify for each event rather than relying on what was permitted for a previous couple.
That's especially important in a place like Sooke Potholes, where the whole reason you're there is the landscape.
The goal is always to celebrate in it without treating it like a private venue.
Is Sooke Potholes accessible for an intimate wedding?
There are areas of Sooke Potholes that can offer relatively short access to beautiful scenery, which was one of the reasons Valerie and Zachary chose it.
Their selected area was only around a two-minute walk, making it much more practical for a small ceremony than many Vancouver Island locations that require a longer hike.
That doesn't mean every part of Sooke Potholes has the same accessibility.
Trail conditions, terrain, parking and the exact ceremony spot all matter.
It's one of the reasons location planning goes beyond sending couples a pretty photo and a map pin.
The prettiest location in the world isn't actually a good wedding location if you or the people you want there can't comfortably reach it.
What is the best time of year for a moody Vancouver Island elopement?
Early fall can be ridiculously beautiful on Vancouver Island.
Valerie and Zachary were married on September 30, and their day gave them the deep greens, softer light and atmospheric feeling they'd envisioned without needing to manufacture a “moody” look.
They also happened to get an absolutely beautiful day weather-wise.
And when you add a black wedding gown, black cathedral veil and deep burgundy and purple florals against all of that West Coast greenery? You don't need much else.
Of course, Vancouver Island weather can change quickly, and an outdoor elopement should always be planned with weather flexibility in mind.
The light, forest, river and darker colour palette did the rest.
Why their Sooke Potholes elopement felt so so unique to them
There are plenty of beautiful wedding days.
The ones we remember most are usually the ones where you can look at every choice and understand something about the people who made it.
Val wanted to wear black.
So she wore a black wedding gown and black cathedral-length veil through the middle of a Vancouver Island forest.
She didn't want to walk down an aisle. So she didn't.
They wanted traditions connected to Val's Indigenous identity. They made room for them.
They wanted private vows. Those happened before anyone else arrived.
They wanted ten-ish people instead of a hundred. That's who they invited.
They wanted dark, cinematic photographs without spending the entire day posing. So we chose a landscape that already gave us that atmosphere.
They wanted a campfire and s'mores. They went home and had one.
They wanted a beautiful sit-down dinner. They had it the next day.
Nothing needed to happen simply because weddings normally happen that way.
And that's kind of the whole point.
Planning a Sooke or Vancouver Island elopement?
If you're imagining a wedding somewhere among Vancouver Island's forests, rivers, mountains and coastline — and you have a Pinterest board full of ideas with absolutely no clue how those ideas become an actual wedding day — that's where we come in.
At Sea to Sky Elopements, we plan intimate weddings and elopements throughout Southwest British Columbia, including Victoria, Sooke, Vancouver Island, Vancouver, Squamish, Whistler, the Sunshine Coast and beyond.
We help you figure out which locations actually fit your vision, what permissions you need, how your guests fit into the plan, where everyone parks, when the light is best, what happens if the weather changes and how to build a timeline that doesn't make your elopement feel like one long photoshoot.
Because sometimes the perfect Vancouver Island wedding looks like ten people beside a river.
Sometimes it means wearing a black wedding gown because white was never really you.
Sometimes it includes traditions that have belonged to your family and culture long before your wedding day.
Sometimes your reception happens on another day.
And sometimes the thing that finally makes you laugh for the camera is whispering “Corn Pops” seductively to the person you've loved for ten years.
Your wedding is allowed to make exactly that much sense to everyone else.
