I am not a coin collector, but last year I was drawn to a ghost story about the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel and actually purchased a coin from the Canadian Mint Haunted Canada Collection. I needed it like a hole in the head– but you know how that goes.
Here is the story from the Canadian Mint site:
Built in 1888, the iconic Fairmont Banff Springs hotel has long been a premier mountain getaway for nature lovers, travellers and even high society. Its architectural beauty and breathtaking vistas of the surrounding Rocky Mountain landscape have long cemented its reputation as an elegant, romantic setting for weddings and special events.
And as legend has it, one bride has also made it her eternal home since the early 1930s.
The wedding day itself held nothing but promise for the young lovebirds. The groom stood in the library, waiting for his bride to arrive, before they made their way together to the glamorous Cascade Ballroom for the evening’s celebrations. As the newlyweds stepped onto the winding limestone staircase, the numerous lit candles that lined the steps cast a soft amber glow on the bride, who was resplendent in her white lace gown and veil.
Perhaps the bride caught her heel in the hem of her dress, or some movement caused her dress to brush up against a candle’s flame – something startled the bride, who suddenly stumbled then fell down the stairs ultimately meeting her demise. It was a truly tragic end to a love story, and a life that was cut all too short.
But this bride’s story doesn’t end with her death. For years, stories have circulated about an apparition in a white wedding dress that moves quietly up and down the aforementioned staircase in the hotel. Some claim to have seen this otherworldly bride dancing alone in the solitude. It is believed that this Dancing Bride is seeking to relive that fateful day, when death denied her and her beloved their first dance as husband and wife. “Till death do us part.”
It seemed quite fitting today that this photo shoot for Ottawa Wedding Magazine was happening in the midst of a few haunted homes on Lake Ave West. Most notably, at Sinder’s Bridal House in Carleton Place. If you have read any of my stories you now the manse just down the street has one heck of a story. I was just so happy to see this going on in Carleton Place. It made my day. It really did. Excitement!
Sinder’s Bridal House
10 Lake Avenue West Carleton Place K7C 1L2
Phone: (613) 253-0039
Email: info@sindersbridal.com
Business hours: Monday-Wednesday, Friday-Saturday 10:00-5:00; Thursday 1:00-9:00
Just a short drive west of Ottawa. Ottawa’s premiere wedding gown salon servicing brides for over 20 years
RELATED READING… LAST WEDDING I went to in Lake Tahoe in CA (lot of pictures takes a bit to load)
Lynne Johnson My friend Gabriella Stern and her mother started Sinders. They sold to the seamstress business across the street. I also knew the MacGregors who lived in the house. Ruth, one of the daughters, was learning to be a chef. She tried out many wonderful recipes on us in that kitchen. Her father had an auto body/mechanic business? near the other MacGregor auto body/mechanic business which became Slakonis.
lindaseccaspina 