Lethbridge Portrait & Wedding Photography & Design by Tanya Plonka

What a treat to do this wedding! I’ve casually known Kim for quite a few years now, but we were more online friends even though we lived in the same city. Then she moved away, and met Peter, and fell in love! I was a little gushy to learn that they met on an online dating site because (1) that’s a great way to fall for someone’s personality first, and (2) that’s how Cam and I met :)

Though the two are based out of Calgary/Edmonton now, they wanted to have a cute small town wedding and spent many months looking for just the right place. They settled on Rosebud, Alberta, which is pretty much the cutest small town I have ever seen. Everything is extremely well maintained and it has a thriving art scene despite being nearly in the middle of no where. As luck would have it, some classic car enthusiasts were having a get together in Rosebud that day and offered their chauffeur services at no charge. So generous!

Since Peter is an actor and both are huge music enthusiasts, their intimate wedding was full of artists, actors, and musicians (my kind of people!) and everyone was so warm and generous that it didn’t take long for me to feel like family. I had so much fun with everyone, for as you will see, they don’t take everything quite so seriously… :) (more…)

Jacob and Bryanne were married last week at Maranatha Reformed Church and had a beautiful wedding on an absolutely beautiful day. These two are super hot and were a dream to work with, and it doesn’t hurt that they are both so sweet :)

Since they were married on the west side and we had a lot of ideas to fit in, we did all the formals on that side of Lethbridge. I always feel like the west side doesn’t have enough locations, but with some special permissions her mom dug up and a few neat little nooks, we totally rocked it! (Although the bridal party was genuinely confused at first to be taken to Taco Bell.)

We had so much fun with everyone, especially when they all cut loose at the playground :) (more…)

Chris and Sheana were married in Pavan Park on an absolutely beautiful, sunny day with their closest friends and family in attendance. Jan and I got to spend a few hours with them that day and we had a great time!

Everytime I’ve met with Chris and Sheana, I’ve been so impressed with how exceptionally nice they are. And when they are together and can be all lovey, they are so absolutely sweet. They are just such a perfect match! I’m so glad I was able to share your day with you :) (more…)

Two mountain weddings in a row, I’m in heaven! :)

I first met Amy when we both took New Media in university, but she was a year ahead of me so I never really got to know her. Thanks to the wonders of Facebook, though, we were able to keep in touch later, and I was so excited when she chose me to photograph her wedding! Her and Andrew live very close to Waterton, so they decided that would be the perfect location to have their wedding. They kept it very small and intimate with only their parents, her grandmothers, and their “baby,” Beans the dog, in attendance at the ceremony; after we were done photos, they had a small reception in town for their extended family.

What a perfect wedding! We all met on the main road, then headed towards Red Rock Canyon where we pulled over and did a small hike to a field of wildflowers. From that spot, we were surrounded by mountains and couldn’t even see a peak of any of the roads. It was such a romantic location.

Amy was up for anything for photos, and was luckily able to talk Andrew into the same! We had no trouble keeping up with each other, and I was thrilled by all the things she was willing and wanted to do for photos :)
It’s hard to top a rock climbing, canoe rowing bride!

I was assisted by my buddy Sarah, who luckily happened to be back in town from Kamloops that day. (more…)

My favorite weddings are always when friends get married, and it means even more when I’ve known them since childhood. Though I didn’t really know Josh in high school, I’ve known Erika since grade 4, or maybe even grade 2! So, when people at the reception watching the slideshow laughed at her school photo where her hair was in a teased mullet, my laugh wasn’t so much of shock because I remember that photo :) I could probably dig up some other equally embarrassing ones out of my mom’s photos of my birthday parties, but I won’t!

Erika and Josh have been together for many years, and decided they wanted to take the time now to celebrate their relationship and bring all of their friends and family together. Though they’ve moved away from the Crowsnest Pass, they decided to have their wedding there. It was so great to be back with a bunch of school mates in the place where we grew up.

They had their wedding on top of the Pass Powderkeg ski hill, which luckily was finally free of snow (I knew a few people who referred to the Pass as “Snow Hell” this spring because the huge snow banks just wouldn’t melt). It was such a beautiful location overlooking the town and mountains, and they couldn’t have chosen a better spot.

I had so much fun hanging out with them for photos. Everyone was hilarious and constantly laughing. Erika and Josh were so crazy in love that I barely had to do anything to get those smiles out of them.

I’m so happy to have been a part of your day :) (more…)

Last month Maria in the Shower returned to Lethbridge for yet another amazing show. These guys are definitely one of my favorite bands to see live. Even though the bar wasn’t very full, by the second set they managed to get everyone to the front dancing. The band plays with so much passion and they do such a unique thing, I just can’t recommend them enough :) (more…)