Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

This is probably going to be the longest wedding blog I ever do (so much for trying to narrow these down to under 40 images)! Juli and Dan were married at the end of June at Lethbridge’s gorgeous Norland Bed & Breakfast and had one of the most unique and colorful weddings I have ever been to. Juli and Dan both spent a lot of time traveling in India and adored the culture, and wanted to incorporate it into their day. Everything was so vibrant and beautiful that I nearly ran out of memory cards!

I was especially honored to be a part of this wedding because I’ve known Juli and Dan for quite some time now. Juli is our yoga instructor at Ammena Dance Company, and has also started dancing with us a bit. When I first met Dan, I assumed they were already married because the connection between them was just so powerful! If soulmates exist, that is the perfect word to describe these two; I have never seen two people more suited to each other.

Their wedding was full of excitement and happiness. Everyone danced and smiled all night. Despite us all being eaten by mosquitoes, no one let it get them down. Even when I was done I stayed for another hour and danced!

They had a sitar player for the ceremony.

Juli blew a kiss to her father as he sat down

These photos are always fun, but it’s better when it’s someone you know! Lise-Anne’s boyfriend Emil tried to get the same angle as me.

Photo by Jan Tajcnar

Dan surprised Juli with a song (the first of many!)

At certain times throughout the day, the pollen looked like thick fluffy snow coming down

Juli’s niece was fixated on the bouquet, so we had to resort to this to get her attention

Photo by Jan Tajcnar

The pink ribbon tied to Juli’s garter was very important. Lise-Anne let Juli borrow her hair extensions, and left them at the studio tied with this ribbon, along with a note that read, “Here is your something borrowed and something blue.” It took Juli a moment to remember that Lise-Anne is color-blind, so she wore this as her “something blue” because it was so cute :)

Every wedding needs a good kissing game, or else the guests will abuse their glass clinking! Juli and Dan played a game I had never seen done before. For each clink, they drew a couple’s name out of a hat (every couple in attendance was included). The couple had to kiss, and Juli and Dan had to imitate their kiss as precisely as they could.

Not only was it their wedding day, but it was also Juli’s birthday! (That makes it a lot easier for remembering anniversaries.)

Dan’s father surprised them during his speech with a Beatles song.

Lise-Anne’s mom, Janet, made all the cookies for the reception (thousands of them!). We always call her our “second mom” because she is always baking for us, fixing and resizing our costumes, and helping out in any other way she can.

Juli’s family had all kinds of neat traditions, including wrapping the couple in streamers during the first dance.

Right after the first dance, Juli and Dan broke out into a Bollywood routine!

Juli’s cousin performed a bellydance routine for the guests.

Lise-Anne and I – I had to be included in some!

Photo by Emil

Some of the Ammena girls performed our Bollywood routine. I was so sad not to be in it this time, but it was fun to finally get to watch it. We all joked that I should have set the camera up on a tripod, and just clicked a remote while dancing.

After the Bollywood performance, Lise-Anne taught the guests how to dance Bhangra, and everyone got involved.

Another music surprise! Dan and his band performed a song he wrote for Juli.

They brought in Dino to play a Tarantella especially for Juli’s Italian grandma.

The night finished off with lots of dancing, and hula hoop limbo!

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Tags: Indian wedding, Norland Historic Estate, outdoor ceremony, red wedding theme, weddings