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       Mariah and Jainyme Da Silveira were married on a mountain peak after a helicopter ride through Banff National Park.

       Nicole Sarah/Nicole Sarah Photography

       After planning every piece of their wedding outfits, from the bride’s dress to the groom’s tie, Mariah and Jainyme Da Silveira ended up pairing their formalwear with hiking boots on their special day.

       The Calgary couple had spent many months arranging a traditional, large wedding just outside the city that was set to happen in July, 2020.

       When the pandemic ruined their plans, they opted for something different: to get married on a mountain peak after a helicopter ride through Banff National Park.

       Having their wedding cancelled felt “like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on all the planning that we’d done,” said Mr. Da Silveira, but the initial shock was eventually replaced by elation when the day arrived in October.

       “I’m someone who hikes summits throughout the Rockies, and I cannot describe the feeling of getting in a helicopter and going up there,” Ms. Da Silveira said.

       “Once we got out of the helicopter and it flew away, it was just absolute stillness, and the most remarkable 360-degree view.”

       Being transported to a scenic mountaintop with a small group of celebrants may have once been considered an eccentric choice for a wedding, but it turns out the unusual format has been taking off since the pandemic began, as many couples like the Da Silveiras have had to reconsider their plans.

       Western Canadian wedding officiants who specialize in heli-weddings say they are busier than ever because the format has been a perfect fit: the celebration takes place outdoors, it can only accommodate small groups and, most importantly, it still feels special.

       Martha McCallum, a Canmore-based officiant who wed the Da Silveiras, said when COVID-19 first hit, 30 of her clients immediately had to cancel, many of which would have been coming from abroad. But within months the cancellations were replaced by a flood of new bookings, much of them from couples in British Columbia and Alberta. She’s now looking to expand her business to accommodate all the interest she has been receiving.

       “I started getting a lot of people saying, ‘We’ve had to cancel our big wedding at a big venue because we’re only allowed a certain number of people,’ so they thought a heli-wedding would be a great alternative,” said Ms. McCallum, who has been organizing these kinds of ceremonies since 2018. “I just was surprised, every day there would be an inquiry.”

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       Heli-weddings have become increasingly popular with couples from B.C. and Alberta during the pandemic.

       Nicole Sarah/Courtesy of family

       Ms. McCallum said another reason the experience is so popular is because it’s customizable to what the couples want. Some of her events will include a relaxed picnic if there’s good weather, while other couples prefer to hike or snowshoe while on the mountain.

       In British Columbia, West Coast Helicopters will take parties from a Vancouver Island mountaintop to a secluded beach, and can even livestream the wedding so that guests can take part from afar.

       Andy Hatfield, a base manager in Nanaimo, B.C., said the company didn’t start out specializing in heli-weddings, but it adapted to meet demand and to expand an existing helicopter charter business.

       Mr. Hatfield said he had gotten only one or two requests from wedding parties during 15 years of operation prepandemic. Now, his company has booked nearly a dozen, with Mr. Hatfield himself becoming a legal wedding officiant this past June.

       “They’re getting a wedding with better pictures, as much, if not more, excitement, and an intimate experience for the fraction of the cost of a large wedding,” he said.

       Ailsa Dunphy and Ryan Gemmola, who currently live on Baffin Island in Nunavut, say they jumped at the opportunity to book a heli-wedding, set for early July in Canmore, to avoid the rush for wedding bookings as pandemic restrictions are lifted.

       “Once the restrictions do relax, there’s going to be a major backlog for weddings, so even if we were ready for it, we might struggle to find a date for the next two years,” Mr. Gemmola said.

       “This way we just get to do exactly what we want, and we get to spend our day doing things that we love,” added Ms. Dunphy.

       Back in Calgary, the Da Silveiras said their wedding replaced everything they lost when they were forced to cancel their original plans. They even saved thousands of dollars on the smaller wedding, and said they’re now in a better position to purchase a home.

       The experience left enough of an impression on them that they hope to revisit the same mountain they got married on in 10 or 15 years.

       “We wouldn’t change it for the world. I would do this wedding again, and again, and again,” said Ms. Da Silveira.

       “I could shout it from a mountaintop.”

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