Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

Caroline and Darryl travelled several provinces over for their Waterton spring elopement. They love the beauty of the mountains and don’t get to take advantage of that from where they live!

They chose the best view in the national park for their ceremony, the hill behind the Prince of Wales overlooking the larger lakes. After their laid back ceremony, we drove around to some of our favourite places in Waterton. They got married at just the right time that the weather was great and Red Rock Canyon was open for the season. I love hearing clients say, “Wow!” when they see some of the views for the first time :)

Congratulations, Caroline & Darryl!

Emily and Ben started our wedding season with their Galt Museum early spring wedding. Despite the leaves not being out yet, it was practically a summer day for their wedding! They decided to have a first look to start off photos, which resulted in lots of tight embraces, huge smiles, and some happy tears.

It made the day so laid back to start with photos. We got to take our time making our way to the Galt Museum, and even after family photos we had enough time for a few more portraits. Their ceremony in the Galt viewing gallery overlooked the coulees and I’m pretty impressed they managed to keep it together during their personal vows (the tears were close!).

Right after the ceremony they took their wedding party outside for a parking lot celebration.

Congratulations, Emily & Benjamin!

Some weddings just work so well as album designs, and Rebecca and Aaron’s Countryside Barn Venue wedding album was definitely one of those. The earthy tones of the brown aviator leather spine and oatmeal linen bag perfectly complemented the rustic vibe of their barn wedding. They went with a 20 page Modern+ album featuring highlights from throughout the wedding day at the Countryside Barn Venue. They let me choose the photos for their design, which always gives me a good feel of the challenge couples go through making those decisions. It’s very hard to narrow photos down!

Jillian and Keith held a Galt Museum evening wedding on what turned out to be an almost spring-like winter day. Jillian rocked a vintage movie star look while Keith let his personality out with a plaid suit and red shoes. The marriage represented the official joining of their families, so it was only fitting that their kids were the wedding party!

After a first look at their home and a couple portraits with their dogs, we took everyone to the coulees near their home to make use of the view in golden hour. Next we headed to The Galt Museum to get portraits around the museum’s architecture before their ceremony.

Their night time ceremony and reception was a beautiful tribute to the life they are building together and they were surrounded by the people who are most special to them.

Congratulations, Jillian and Keith!

I always love when a couple will do what it takes to get the shot, even when we can see our breath! Tracey and Mark fell in love with the architecture of the Norland as soon as they saw it, so it was an important focus point for their photos. After their private ceremony, I met their family at the venue to start their Norland Estate evening wedding portraits.

Their union was a celebration of their families coming together, so they had all of their children stand in as the wedding party and focused on the kids as much as themselves when it came time for photos.

Congratulations, Tracey & Mark!

Jacqueline and Matthew’s Galt Museum late autumn wedding couldn’t have fallen on a better year. The gorgeous fall we had meant they still had fall colours and (sort of) warm temperatures for their wedding day. They chose the exact date of their 10th anniversary to get married since the date was already so special to them. The couple went with a starry night theme with blues and purples, which looked beautiful with the autumn colours.

Their ceremony involved lightsabers and such a huge reaction from Matthew when he saw Jacqueline enter the aisle. So many family members couldn’t stop their happy tears, including Matthew’s grandma who I overheard several times exclaiming, “It’s just so beautiful!” Matthew’s sister performed the ceremony (and managed to just barely make it through without crying too much). Jacqueline has younger siblings so she was able to include them in the wedding party as an older flower girl and ring bearer, matching in the wedding colours. All siblings were included somehow in the ceremony!

Partway through photos, we had their dog Fenrir specially escorted to us. He was so excited to see them that we could hardly get him to sit still! Basically he had an even bigger reaction during his first look with Jacqueline than Matthew did ;)

Congratulations, Jacqueline & Matthew!