YOU DESERVE AN UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE AND THAT'S WHAT MATTERS ABOVE ALL ELSE
You’re the reason I absolutely love what I do. I want to know all about you and what makes you, well, you.
To me, cultivating the perfect elopement is more than taking breathtaking photos. Throughout your wedding planning process, I will be accessible and offer tips and information along the way. Think of me as your guide, elopement planner and photographer all in one (I am also great at holding mirrors for summit makeup, packing your essentials up the mountain, and bringing the hype).
I will make sure to share all the to dos, not to dos, packing lists, and everything you may never have even thought of! I will be here every step of the way to offer as much assistance as you need to make sure that your elopement represents you 100%.
You’re the reason I absolutely love what I do. I want to know all about you and what makes you, well, you.
Welcome to my website! My name is Jaycee Bachelder and I am the face and trigger finger behind the Venture Images lens. I have been third wheeling couples for the last 3 years and have met so many amazing people, many I now consider friends. In the start of my career as a photographer I would photograph anything I possibly could, not yet knowing what my passion was and hoping that at some point it would just hit me in the face, and it kind of did.
In the last 5 years since graduating with my RN degree, I have been able to visit 8 different countries, many of which included multi-day backpacking trips. Growing up we were always busy in the outdoors, whether it was camping in our own backyard, or partaking in a variety of other activities like hiking, kayaking, mountain biking, snowboarding, dirt biking. You name it, I’ve probably tried it.
And then, I photographed my very first small intimate wedding. And there it was. My passion. My niche. The thing I was most excited to do, even when it meant it was the most amount of work. I already had the background for multi outdoor sports whether it be the adventure to try something new or the safety considerations to take while doing it. I also had knowledge of the local areas within Alberta, areas such as Nordegg, Kananaskis, Canmore and Banff National Park, and understood the ability and had the ability to scout for the most epic locations. But all of that was just perks, and occasionally requirements, of the job. The part of intimate weddings and elopements that made me fall in love with them was that the couple was choosing what they wanted. They had the courage to step away from the societal mentality that bigger is better and do something that screamed them on one of the most important days of their lives. They chose to focus solely on the person beside them and create a day that they would remember and cherish for the rest of their lives. A day specifically made for them, not their Great Aunt Cindy that they haven’t seen in 5 years.
The intimacy, personality, and genuine moments that go into an intimate wedding or elopement continue to suck me right in. No intimate wedding or elopement is the same. Even if I were to hike the same trail day and day over, the personalities that you bring shine through and create the most memorable experiences. I used to notice at large weddings that somehow the couple would get lost within this massive day, and many times I found them not even celebrating together, but rather doing their due-diligence and greeting their guests separately. This is the exact opposite of what I want to create with you. I want you to end your day feeling that even if it wasn’t your wedding day, it would have been a super epic day regardless, and just even more special that you got to say yes to spending the rest of your life with your favorite human (Being on top of a mountain, in a canyon, or even on a ski slope helps too..)
I grew up just outside the city of Lacombe. My parents were always very active people and having kids didn’t slow them down much. I was lucky enough to grow up in a house hold where activities were encouraged (horses, hockey, hiking, dirt biking, snow boarding, etc) just as much as volunteering was. Growing up with 4-H we volunteered our little hearts out to the point that when I graduated, it felt weird to not be volunteering as much and I am pretty sure that is why I became a nurse. I always loved the feeling of being able to help others and if I could make their lives just a little easier, I was all for it. I still continue to nurse part time today, but in a slightly different role than most would expect and RN to be doing. I am a Sexual Health Nurse. You know, your most favorite class in school? I teach it. And we have so much fun. Just like photography, I try to make the experience as fun and entertaining as possible so people leave with a positive memory of something that they were perhaps nervous about or not looking forward to.
Going back to volunteering, after graduation I also signed up to be a mentor with the Big Brothers Big Sister program here in Lacombe. I was super lucky with my match and we have been hanging out together weekly for the last 4 years. Every now and then you’ll catch her popping up on my Instagram feed or stories. Alexis is starting to share my love for the outdoors and has even started to talk about backpacking trips in the future! Proud sister right here. You may even catch her wielding a camera during a session or two as she has also caught the photography bug.
Life is busy, but it wouldn’t be as busy without my little family. Dalen and I have been together for 5 years and have 3 pups together, Nelson, Markus and Kaine. The boys love running around our 3 acres and all take turns coming for hikes with Alexis and I. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll be seeing a lot of them.
My love of travel and experiencing new cultures has taken me all over the world and it’s not very often that I get to share my own travels, so if your interested in seeing trips with photos primarily taken on phones and go pros check out my travel tab! Otherwise, if you’re only here for the dogs, I completely understand and you’ll see more of them below.