Lethbridge Portrait & Wedding Photography & Design by Tanya Plonka

Jocelyn and Matthew were married last weekend at a beautiful, intimate ceremony at Henderson Lake with their closest friends and family (officiated by my favorite, Norma!). Though they are both fairly quiet people, they constantly shared all these cute moments between one another that had me smiling a lot too. Matthew took some encouragement to smile with his teeth in the beginning (including his family yelling, “Teeth!” at him), but after a while his grin was ear to ear every time he looked at Jocelyn :)

As you’ll see, they kept things unique with Jocelyn’s awesome green shoes, super colorful flowers, and a Best Lady in place of a Best Man.

Thank you to Andrew Suderman for helping out, and climbing on garbage bins for family photos! (more…)

The rain stopped just in time for Nick and Alyson’s beautiful wedding at St. Patrick’s church. Because they live in Vancouver, I didn’t actually meet them until the week of their wedding, but instantly took to them and knew I was going to have a great time (and I was right!). This was another crazy fun wedding, and all we did all day was play with the bridal party. With our first stop being a playground, it definitely set the tone for the rest of the day. I managed to sneak serious photos in throughout the day, but it was tempting not to ;)

Later on they had a big party at the Coast Hotel with DJ Thom, and it was another of those rare receptions where the dance floor was always packed. Wonderful!

Thank you to Sarah Underwood for climbing on things and helping out! (more…)

The rain forced us indoors, but we made the best of it! Last night I met Melanie from Photo Expressions and her fiancée Chad. The two of them are getting married in Vegas next year, and decided to start out the experience with a local engagement session. Melanie felt out of place since she is normally behind the camera, but they were total naturals in front of it. All I had to do was tell him to kiss her, and they easily got carried away with the lovey stuff :) (more…)

Many many years ago I met “Pleasant” Ross through our mutual friends in the university’s music department, and when I met Erin I was thrilled to find out she perfectly matched him in charm (she is officially “Pleasant Erin” now). The two were married at the Galt, which is always one of my favorite places in Lethbridge, and had their wonderful, silly friends standing up along with them. All the tears Erin and Ross fought back during the ceremony had me emotional too, and it’s always much stronger when I know the people!

I had so much fun with them all day, and their bridal party never failed to keep me entertained (I was delighted the week after when, second shooting for Michael, one of the same groomsmen showed up in that bridal party!)

The reception was a fantastic party where everyone was full of energy and had so much fun (the candy bar may be to blame for some of that). Normally I don’t post a ton of reception photos, but in this case I couldn’t resist :)

Thank you to Jan for helping out again! (more…)

I hadn’t heard of Maria in the Shower until catching them open for Lily Fawn at the Slice a few weeks ago, but they impressed me in a huge way and were luckily playing their own show at Slice again the week after! Their music is a fun ecclectic blend of all kinds of delightful things and fantastic for dancing to. Not only is their music amazing, but they are top notch performers, never letting their energy wane for a moment; I’m sure the pictures speak volumes of that.

Check out their MySpace page! (more…)

Kara and Mitch were married a few weeks ago at a beautiful sunny ceremony in Pavan Park with their closest family and friends in attendance. I had a fantastic time with them because they put the utmost trust in me and did anything I told them to for the sake of photos! (I made them “work for it,” Kara told me with satisifaction in her voice.) They were kind enough to let me drag them out to Monarch for the majority of their formal photos, and I’m so glad we went there because that is one of the most diverse towns I have ever seen for locations!

I was also pleasantly surprised to find someone I’ve known for a few years in their bridal party – Lethbridge is small like that, so I’m actually surprised it doesn’t happen more often!

Kara and Mitch are a sweet couple, and I must say I love Kara’s “kissy face” she often makes.

Thanks to Andrew Suderman for helping out this time around! (more…)