The Greater Vancouver Area is surrounded by natural beauty, providing spectacular venues for couples on their wedding day.
Companies in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, though, offer unique venues for adventurous couples to exchange their vows.
The Hopcott family has been hosting weddings on their farm since 2017. The 75-acre farm comes complete with a farmhouse, cornstalks, and breathtaking views – most notably a view of the Golden Ears Mountains.
“With the beautiful backdrop of the surrounding mountains, your guests will experience a unique connection to nature as they celebrate with you,” the family-run company boasts to perspective brides.
Rachel Hopcott, events coordinator, said there are a number of unique factors that make their farm a highly sought after wedding destination.
For one thing, the ceremony location is set in front of a 15-acre field of corn. So depending on the season, the corn could be shin height where beautiful views of the Golden Ears Mountains are in plain sight. Or there could be an entire lush field of eight-feet-high corn, Hopcott described.
Receptions are held in a barn that is complete with chandeliers and open garage doors on all sides.
When all the doors are up it’s a gorgeous dinner and dance venue, noted Hopcott.
In addition, she added, couples have requested to have tractors on site, for tractor rides and hay-wagon rides. There are also farm animals there, like mother and baby goats, that guests often enjoy viewing.
Couples are allowed to bring their dogs to the wedding.
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“We’ve had a lot of pet ring-bearers,” Hopcott laughed.
Both the ceremony and reception are held at the one location, making it easier for photographs. Plus, guests don’t have to travel to different locations.
Guests usually arrive at around 2 p.m. for the ceremony, and then they have the rest of the day to celebrate.
Another unique touch that the Hopcotts offer is they allow helicopters to land at the farm. They have partnered with SKY Helicopters to fly in couples – something, Hopcott noted, is spectacular for guests to see as well.
Helicopters can land wherever the couple wants, and they can choose their entry.
“They can arrive at the ceremony together or they could go for pictures after the ceremony and arrive together for the reception by helicopter,” explained Hopcott.
There is a grassy field, a gravel area, and a hilltop where helicopters typically land.
“There’s a lot of options,” she said.
Hopcott has noticed that couples are more eco-conscious in 2023, opting to use old wine and liquor bottles as centrepiece vases for the tables at the reception, or reusable dishware, avoiding disposable paper plates and cups. Something, Hopcott said, they can either sell or reuse.
Hopcott’s farm venue is fully booked for 2023 already and has just released their 2024 package. Farms are only able to hold 10 events per year, advised Hopcott, so booking is tight.
And speaking of SKY Helicopters, this is another Pitt Meadows business able to offer backcountry packages to couples wanting uncommon and intimate wedding ceremonies, ,” explained marketing director for SKY Helicopters George Lacny.
“We had always been doing backcountry weddings prior to COVID. But when COVID came around and all the wedding venues and facilities all began to shut down and people weren’t able to leave the country to do the destination weddings, we became a very, very sought after venue in terms of doing our elopement flights into the backcountry, said marketing director for SKY Helicopters George Lacny.
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Last year the company carried 38 couples, along with a limited number of their entourage, to the backcountry for wedding elopements. In addition the company flew to 85 proposal sites, Lacny explained.
The company will fly a maximum of about 12 people to a wedding site, and that will vary depending on the weather and backcountry conditions at the time of the event. They do mountain top weddings, or a beautiful alpine lake, or if the cloud level is a bit lower, they can take people to a nice little island in a glacier-fed river.
They also work with a number of companies that can provide services like officiating ministers, photographers, videographers, and wedding planners.
However, Lacny said, they typically don’t provide these services in house, preferring to leave those types of arrangements to companies that are engaged with the wedding market.
Going to the backcountry is a lot of fun, added Lacny.
“We’ve had people who go up and they are casual and we’ve had people in full-blown tuxedos and wedding dresses,” he said.
“It’s really fun to see brides in their wedding dress with hiking boots on,” Lacny chuckled.
Each backcountry wedding takes about an hour and a half, said Lacny. And each location has its own, unique beauty.
For more information about Hopcott Farm weddings go to hopcottfarms.ca/hopcott-weddings and for SKY Helicopters go to skyhelicopters.ca.
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