Winter Wedding Photos at Medicine Lake in Jasper
It takes a certain type of person to get married in the Canadian winter (no judgement here) but for those certain people; winter wedding photos with the stunning backdrop of Medicine Lake in Jasper National Park is a dream come true. Although it can be a harsh and frigid place for a bridal dress or a wedding party, as you will see from our Jasper wedding photos in this post it can also be an incredibly beautiful photo location.
Medicine Lake is about a 20 minute drive from either the Jasper townsite or the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, up the Maligne Lake Road. The road can be icy or snowy in the winter, but Parks Canada does regularly maintain the road all the way up so that it is safe for cars and buses with winter tires. For weddings and wedding parties who don’t want to drive themselves, Sundog tours and Open Top tours have escorted more than a few wedding parties up to Medicine Lake in Jasper.
Medicine Lake is a great wedding photography location for a few reasons. One, the mountain vista is stunning, as the impressive cliffs come right down to the lakeshore. Two, the lake is always changing throughout the year, making the wedding photos taken there always unique and different. Three, it is only a short, scenic drive from town that offers you and your wedding party wildlife viewing opportunities, and a dramatic high mountain scene for your photos.
We’ve compiled a few Medicine Lake wedding photos in this blog for you to enjoy and - hopefully - be inspired by! These were taken over the last couple of winters here in Jasper, and you will notice how the lake looks so different each time!
Medicine Lake Wedding Photo Tips
Bring extra warm jackets, hats, mitts etc! It is a short but slow walk down to the photo area from the parking lot, and without a warm layer for in between photos it is possible to catch a chill, or even frostbite!
Be sure to pack everything you might need for you or your wedding party. So warm layers, drinks, snacks, water, etc (Check out our essential wedding photo packing list here)
Bring hand and foot warmers.
Ice cleats or crampons are not a bad idea: Either path down to the lakeshore requires descending a possibly steep and icy path. Make sure you have footwear that can handle ice, even if you change out of them for the photos.
Don’t tough it out: If you are too cold during your wedding photos, say so! It is always better to stop and take a warm up break than to push through and end up with frostbite.
Have a backup plan: Sometimes the weather can change quickly, and it may become too windy or snowy for photos. If you have a local photographer who knows the area they can can help you coordinate a backup plan so that you still get incredible wedding photos.
Things to remember
In order to get the best photos at Medicine Lake in the winter time, it is necessary to walk a few minutes down to the lakeshore from the parking area. Then it is best to walk around a little bit to the places that are most suitable at that time. Because of the time it takes just getting between photo spots, let alone taking the photos, it’s important to wear a good warm jacket and be prepared to be out in the cold for a little while. Sometimes it takes people by surprise how quickly they get reeeeally cold on a winter afternoon in the mountains without layers on! Fur stolls or wraps are great for the photos, but they don’t cut it for the time in between photos.
Be warned! It’s a long drive up to Medicine Lake, and we’ve seen more than a couple of groomsmen have more than a couple of drinks on the way! If you suspect that will be your group, we recommend getting wedding party photos out of the way first so that there are some sober faces in a few of the photos ;) Otherwise it can really cut into your portrait time if it is tough to wrangle the tipsy folks.
If you are thinking of having your wedding or engagement photos in Jasper in the winter time, be sure to let us know! We live here in Jasper year round, and so we are always ready to recommend the best winter location for your photos given the current conditions in the Park. We hope to hear from you!
