Ninette, Manitoba · Pelican Lake · Yacht Club · Outdoor
Pelican Yacht Club
Pelican Yacht Club sits on the shores of Pelican Lake in Ninette, Manitoba — approximately 2.5 hours southwest of Winnipeg. The lake is wide, clear, and teal-blue in the July light. Sailboat masts rise above the dock in rows. The ceremony grounds sit on a manicured hillside above the water, where the arbor is framed entirely by open lake stretching to the far shore. There is no other wedding venue in Manitoba that looks like this.
I photographed Christina and Jack's wedding here in July 2026, and it remains the most visually distinct location I have ever worked. The combination of the hillside ceremony grounds, the working sailboat marina, the lake at golden hour, and the open Manitoba sky above it all creates a range of images — from aerial drone to intimate portraits — that simply does not exist anywhere else in this province.
For couples planning a destination-style wedding in Manitoba, Pelican Yacht Club is the answer. The Pelican Campground and Lounge handles on-site accommodations and catering, which means your guests can arrive, stay the night, swim in the lake, attend the wedding, and leave the next day with the kind of memories that city venues cannot produce. The drive from Winnipeg is two and a half hours — and every kilometre of it is worth it.
The ceremony site sits on a manicured hillside above Pelican Lake, with a wooden square arbor set directly against the open water as a backdrop. White chairs line the grass. A large oak tree anchors the left edge of the space. An antique rusted red truck — a permanent feature of the property — anchors the right. At every position from the back of the aisle to the front, the lake is behind the couple. That is a built-in compositional advantage that most outdoor venues in Manitoba cannot offer.
The Pelican Yacht Club is a working sailing club. The marina holds dozens of boats — masts lined up in rows above the dock, fibreglass hulls reflecting in the still water at dusk. For portraits, the marina dock provides frames that look cinematic from every angle: the boats as architectural elements, the water on both sides, and the sky above. I shot ground-level, mid-level, and aerial drone from this dock and every perspective delivered. This is an almost uniquely photogenic element for a Manitoba wedding venue.
Pelican Lake is accessible and swimmable, and the venue has canoes available for use. A canoe session at golden hour — out into the open water with the drone overhead — produces images that do not resemble any other Manitoba wedding photograph I have in my portfolio. At Christina and Jack's wedding, Christina swam in her wedding dress in Pelican Lake. That decision, and the aerial photographs it produced, became the defining images of the day. Plan time for the water. The lake rewards it.
Pelican Yacht Club is the best drone photography venue I have worked at in Manitoba. The open water of the lake, the marina dock and sailboats, the elevated ceremony grounds, and the surrounding prairie landscape combine to create aerial compositions that are extraordinary at every altitude and time of day. I fly drone at every Pelican Yacht Club wedding. Budget time for it: the late golden hour aerials over the lake, particularly the overhead dock shot, will be your most-shared images.
The Pelican Campground and Lounge manages cabin rentals directly on the venue property. Your wedding party can stay on-site the night before, sleep through the morning of the wedding, and wake up already on the lake. For out-of-town guests, Killarney is the nearest town with additional accommodation options. Plan for your guests' arrival and departure the day before and after — a Pelican Yacht Club wedding is best experienced over two days, not one.
Food and catering for weddings at Pelican Yacht Club is handled by The Pelican Campground and Lounge, the on-site restaurant and bar. Contact the venue directly for menu options, capacity, and pricing.
Christina and Jack got married at Pelican Yacht Club on July 18, 2026 — a warm mid-July day with open sky and golden light on the water by late afternoon. The day included a canoe session on Pelican Lake, Christina swimming in her Essense of Australia gown, drone aerials over the marina dock, and the first kiss at the wooden arbor with the full lake behind them. Their dog — a brindle Malinois mix in a floral collar — attended the ceremony.
The full wedding blog post covers the entire day in 70 photographs: details and getting ready, the first look on the hillside, the ceremony, family formals, drone aerials, the marina portraits on the sailboat Harmony, the lake swim sequence, and the film gallery.
Read the full wedding story →
Pelican Yacht Club is not a venue you can reach in forty minutes. The drive from Winnipeg is approximately 2.5 hours on paved provincial highways. Plan your getting-ready timeline accordingly: either stay on-site the night before — which I strongly recommend — or depart Winnipeg by mid-morning at the latest. As your photographer, I arrive early and am already at the venue before you are. The drive is worth it, but only if your day isn't rushed because of it.
At Pelican Yacht Club, you have the hillside above the lake, the marina dock, the open lake itself, and the sailboats — four distinct portrait environments within walking distance of each other. Do not compress your portrait time to 45 minutes. The lake session alone — whether it is a canoe, a dock, or a swim — deserves 30 minutes on its own. The golden hour at Pelican Lake in July starts around 8 PM and moves quickly. Your portrait timeline should be built around being at the water when the light arrives.
The most important thing I can tell a couple planning a wedding at Pelican Yacht Club: plan for the lake. Not as an afterthought — plan for it deliberately. Whether you canoe, wade in for portraits, or fully swim (which I encourage), the lake is why this venue exists as a wedding destination. The couples who go all-in on the water produce images that are genuinely different from anything else I have in my portfolio. Go in. Get wet. The dress dries.
If you are booking a photographer for a Pelican Yacht Club wedding, confirm that they fly a drone. The aerial perspective at this venue — the overview of the ceremony grounds and marina, the canoe on the open lake, the overhead dock shot, the lake swim from altitude — is a core part of the story. Without it, you are missing half the images that make this venue singular. I include drone in all my Pelican Yacht Club coverage.
Pelican Lake sunsets are exceptional in July — open water catches and reflects the sky in a way that land-locked venues cannot. The marina at golden hour, with the sailboat masts lit against a pink and orange sky, and the lake surface going mirror-still as the light fades into blue, is one of the most photographable venue moments I have experienced in Manitoba. Stay outside through sunset. Do not go inside for dinner while the light is still happening.
Let's talk about your day. I travel to Ninette — and every kilometre is worth it.
Inquire NowPelican Yacht Club in Ninette, Manitoba is one of the most visually striking and genuinely distinctive wedding venues in the province. Set on the shores of Pelican Lake, the venue offers a hillside ceremony space with panoramic lake views, a working sailboat marina, cabin accommodations via The Pelican Campground and Lounge, and direct access to the lake for canoe and swimming sessions. It is approximately 2.5 hours southwest of Winnipeg. For couples willing to make the drive, the images and experience it produces are unlike anything available at a city venue. See the real wedding: Christina & Jack — Pelican Yacht Club Wedding Manitoba.
There are four standout locations. First: the hillside above the lake, where the ceremony grounds provide an elevated view of Pelican Lake as a backdrop for first looks, formals, and group portraits. Second: the marina dock, where the moored sailboats frame the couple from both ground level and aerial. Third: the open lake itself — ideal for canoe portraits at golden hour and lake sessions. Fourth: drone altitude — the combination of open water, the marina, and the surrounding Manitoba landscape creates aerials I have not been able to replicate anywhere else in the province.
Yes — Pelican Yacht Club is the best drone photography venue I have worked at in Manitoba. The open water, the sailboat marina, and the elevated ceremony grounds create aerial compositions that are simply impossible at enclosed or urban venues. I fly drone at every Pelican Yacht Club wedding and include it in my coverage. The overhead dock shot — couple lying between two rows of sailboats from directly above — is a signature image I have only been able to make at this venue.
Yes. The Pelican Campground and Lounge offers cabin rentals directly on the property, making it possible for your wedding party and guests to stay on-site. This is a significant advantage for a destination-style wedding in Ninette: guests arrive the day before, enjoy the lake and grounds, attend the wedding, and wake up the next morning still at the venue. Contact The Pelican Campground and Lounge directly for availability, cabin capacity, and pricing.
Pelican Yacht Club is in Ninette, Manitoba, approximately 2.5 hours southwest of Winnipeg on paved provincial highways. I travel to Pelican Yacht Club for weddings — travel fees may apply depending on your package. I strongly recommend staying on-site the night before and planning a day-of timeline that accounts for the drive. Reach out via the inquiry form to discuss your specific day.
Wedding photography in Manitoba typically ranges from $2,500 to $6,000+ depending on experience, coverage hours, and deliverables. At Ngo Photography, wedding packages start at $3,800 CAD and include full-day coverage and a professionally edited digital gallery. Travel to Ninette may incur additional fees. Full investment details are at ngophotography.ca/investment.
