Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

Theresa and Nicholas planned their dream day with a Nikka Yuko Bunka Centre wedding, starting with their ceremony in the garden overlooking the water. This was hands down the most photos we ever took at a wedding ceremony! Theresa and Nicholas giggled, cried, danced, cheered, and overall had the biggest emotions from their happiness and excitement. In turn this made many of their guests giggle and cry too.

The couple have such a tight knit group of friends that they also included their attendant’s partners throughout the day and a few other close friends and siblings who weren’t in the wedding party. They were such a hilarious group of people and even better, all geeks like us! They included favourite video game soundtracks as some of their most important music throughout the day.

After all the weddings we’ve done at the Japanese Garden, the Bunka Centre is still very new and this was the first wedding reception we’ve had there! It is such a great space for smaller weddings. Not only were Theresa and Nicholas super cute, but it seemed like all of their guests were on the same page. All of the couples at the wedding were adorable and we got so many sweet dance photos of them. Don’t worry, Theresa and Nicholas still stole the show by doing a choreographed waltz for their first dance!

Congratulations, Theresa and Nicholas!

Kasey and Alex met while scuba diving and now spend their days doing it in locations much warmer than Canada. When they got engaged (the proposal happened while scuba diving, naturally), they decided to travel back to Kasey’s home base and have their wedding in the Lethbridge area with a Norland Estate late afternoon wedding. Alex’s family travelled from the US and Kasey’s old friends hadn’t seen her in ages, so it was a really special event reuniting all of their friends and family.

All of the details of their Norland Historic Estate wedding were truly reflective of them (even the ones that made their mothers roll their eyes) and their ceremony had so many moments of huge laughter and fighting back tears.

Congratulations, Kasey and Alex!

What happens when geeks get married but they are also drama kids? You get an event that’s a fun combination of light sabers, dancing wedding parties, and reception events driven by game winners. This wasn’t Janna and Sam’s real wedding; that happened a couple years ago in an intimate way. This wedding was to have a party for their friends and family! Their Norland Estate spring wedding was everything they hoped their dream wedding would be. Once they found the Norland online, they knew it was the perfect place and they travelled to Lethbridge for everything to come together.

With the legal part well out of the way, they were able to have a fun, casual day without the stress of a tight schedule. One of the groomsmen officiated the ceremony and Janna and Sam’s daughter played a central role throughout the day (and somehow powered through the whole thing without a nap). We’re so glad we could steal them away at the end of the day for a fun light saber battle.

Congratulations, Janna and Sam!

Michaela and Jason are just the sweetest people so I was not surprised by the amount of happy tears throughout their Galt Museum spring wedding. Michaela started off the day by making everyone cry with their first looks. After her bridesmaids tried not to ruin their fresh makeup, Michaela and her mom met with her dad for an emotional first look in the atrium at the Sandman Signature. Next it was on to Jason seeing her walk down the aisle, but they managed to hold it together a little better and trade the tears for big laughter :)

I’m always amazed at how you can reconnect with people after so many years (which is especially easy in Lethbridge where everyone knows each other!). Back at the beginning of my photography journey, Jason was one of the local musicians I met when I was photographing live shows. I was so excited when after all these years he reached out to me to photograph his wedding to Michaela! And since Lethbridge is like this, Cam was surprised to find he knew one of the groomsmen from high school!

Congratulations, Michaela and Jason!

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!