Secret Winter Elopement At The Rosemount Inn | Val and Thomas Tied The Knot In Secret

Bride and groom drinking together in wedding celebration. Beautiful Couple getting married. Photography by Viara Mileva Quirky love photography in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Best Candid wedding engagement family photographer in Ontario.

Wow, do I have a good story for you today! (itā€™s a bit different from usual, because the images youā€™ll be seeing are actually the full spreads of the coupleā€™s wedding album)

FINALLY Iā€™m able to blog about this wedding, because Val & Thomas have revealed their surprise elopement to their family and friends. All in all, the news was received really well!

Some family might have been completely thrown off, and maybe even unhappy. When I had a spur of the moment elopement, my aunt wasnā€™t thrilled about missing it. But it was nothing personal - we didnā€™t omit her because sheā€™s not special to us - she definitely is! We didnā€™t invite anyone because we literally had two days to plan, and it required an overseas tripā€¦

Bride and groom kissing each other holding wedding bouquet. Beautiful Couple getting married. Photography by Viara Mileva Quirky love photography in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Best Candid wedding engagement family photographer in Ontario.

Anyway, what Iā€™m trying to say isā€¦ When youā€™re planning your elopement - secret or not - you CANNOT consider everyoneā€™s wishes. Just focus on what you and your partner valueā€¦ start there. Because itā€™s you and your partner that will be braving this world together, through thick and thin. Your partner is the person that needs to be considered first when elopement planning.


Beautiful wedding buoquet and wedding cake. Beautiful Couple getting married. Photography by Viara Mileva Quirky love photography in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Best Candid wedding engagement family photographer in Ontario.

Soā€¦ hereā€™s how this secret elopement went down.

We met at 1pm on a Monday afternoon (hahaā€¦ I think itā€™s super cool when people decide to get married on a Mondayā€¦ in the middle of winter!)

Originally , Val was scheduled to have a film class that morning at Queenā€™s University. But class got cancelled. So that meant the whole day was just for them and their secret elopement.

Wedding venue rosemount inn. Beautiful Couple getting married. Photography by Viara Mileva Quirky love photography in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Best Candid wedding engagement family photographer in Ontario.
Bride and groom getting ready for the wedding function. Beautiful Couple getting married. Photography by Viara Mileva Quirky love photography in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Best Candid wedding engagement family photographer in Ontario.

They had a gorgeous suite at The Rosemount Inn. When I arrived, Val was on her laptop looking at schooling options after Queenā€™s. I remember thinking it was so progressive that she was browsing for career opportunities on the morning of her elopement.

Couple walking to the wedding venue before the elopement. Beautiful Couple getting married. Photography by Viara Mileva Quirky love photography in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Best Candid wedding engagement family photographer in Ontario.

Val & Thomas got ready really quickly, but they had to drive to their apartment for a couple of last minute thingsā€¦ I hopped in the car too, so that I could take photos of this relatively ā€œmundaneā€ and ā€œordinaryā€ activity: driving home.

Why? Because one day, they wonā€™t live here. They wonā€™t drive this car. They wonā€™t know this street. It will be a distant memory. Having a photograph of that front door, that driveā€¦ it will spark memories.


Bride getting ready wearing footwear for the wedding. Beautiful Couple getting married. Photography by Viara Mileva Quirky love photography in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Best Candid wedding engagement family photographer in Ontario.

Back at The Rosemount, they got ready quickly.

Val did her makeup, and I couldnā€™t take enough photos. She looked stunning. It was such a simple setting - a bathroom mirror, a young woman, and a makeup brushā€¦ but it looked so interesting. I took many photographs.

Bride doing her own makeup before the wedding. Beautiful Couple getting married. Photography by Viara Mileva Quirky love photography in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Best Candid wedding engagement family photographer in Ontario.

Their ā€œfirst lookā€, was short and sweet. It was obvious they loved seeing each other all dressed up; it was a tender moment.


First look of bride and groom before the wedding. Beautiful Couple getting married. Photography by Viara Mileva Quirky love photography in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Best Candid wedding engagement family photographer in Ontario.

The ceremony took place next door, at The Rosemount Inn Parlour.

Heather (of Bowtied with Love) was their planner; she had created a simple beautiful bouquet, bought a tiramisu cake, and was also acting as one of the witnesses. (Have I mentioned how much I love Heather? She makes every elopement and wedding seamless and stress-free! Itā€™s like sheā€™s able to think about EVERYTHING, so no one else has toā€¦)

The ceremony was really sweet and not too long. They exchanged vows in front of the big fireplace, and then sealed the deal with a kiss.

Bride and groom signing wedding papers. Beautiful Couple getting married. Photography by Viara Mileva Quirky love photography in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Best Candid wedding engagement family photographer in Ontario.

The signing was done on top of the grand piano, which presented an opportunity for me to get ā€˜artsyā€™ and try a reflection shot.


The Parlour is a gorgeous space with a floor to ceiling mirror, which we made full use of. Val and Thomas took coupleā€™s photos there, making silly and serious faces. Then we headed over to the window, where Val touched the glass, and looked out. There was also a silhouette shot of the two of them that I lovedā€¦.with the reflection on the piano.

Couple celebrating wedding with glass of wine. Beautiful Couple getting married. Photography by Viara Mileva Quirky love photography in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Best Candid wedding engagement family photographer in Ontario.

They cut their cake, and sat down to have a glass of bubbly. Many more photographs were taken.

Finally, they changed into their ā€˜street clothesā€™ and headed to one of their favourite places - Musiikki Cafe. It was still mid-afternoon, so they grabbed some hot tea, and had a relaxed chat knowing they were now married! I took some photos from inside and outside to capture the scene. Then I said goodbye, and left them to enjoy each otherā€™s company as newlyweds!

Newly wedded couple at the coffee shop in street clothes. Beautiful Couple getting married. Photography by Viara Mileva Quirky love photography in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Best Candid wedding engagement family photographer in Ontario.

I was thinking it would be years before I got to share this secret elopement with you allā€¦ We spent a couple of weeks working on their wedding album: I presented an initial design which they loved. We made small tweaks, and they chose a gorgeous brown leatherette cover option, coupled with rose gold gilding on the side. I delivered their album a week ago!

Newly wedded couple at the coffee shop in the street clothes.

And then today I got the text from Val that they had broken the news to family. So the first thing I did was write this blog :)

I hope you enjoy these pages from their album, and they inspire you to plan your very own secret elopement - in winter, or any other time of year!

And if you loved what you saw, please leave a comment below! ā¤ļø

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A Stunning Forest Elopement With Only Close Family | Lu & Adrian's Rural Landsdowne Wedding