Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

One of my favourite annual traditions is photographing Stefan each year around his birthday, and now that he’s getting more tolerant of the cold weather (though not that cold for December!) we got to do most of the photos outdoors at the University’s lake this time around. That being said, his mom and I were still pretty cold. ;) Stefan’s jumping, sliding, and running around definitely contributed to keeping him warm!

His personality has really opened up this year, going from being quiet and a little shy (though always rocking silly face photos) to telling me all kinds of stories and being totally up for jumping in the air as many times as I requested. His mom and dad joined him for a few photos this time too!

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Davina and Jonathan chose an almost summer-like day for their Lethbridge University Lake couple’s session in the late autumn. We hardly even had wind! This was a great thing as Davina has recently moved to Lethbridge from out of province and is still adjusting to our “breezes” we regularly get here ;)

While Davina has relocated here for work, her boyfriend Jonathan is still back home and he came to Lethbridge for a special visit with her. I really appreciate them taking a moment out of such an important week for a few photos! They brought along their adorable dog Lyndee, who has the cutest ears with curly hair. Lyndee loved sniffing around at the university but was easy to distract when we gave her bag of biscuits a good shake!

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Dan and Deb held a beautiful fall wedding starting with their Bethel Free Reformed Congregation wedding ceremony in Monarch, bringing their families together.

Even though the wedding took place in late autumn, we were able to find a few splashes of colour at the University lake and their navy colour scheme looked fantastic against the warm fall hues.

Deb and Dan already share such an intimate bond after facing some hardships together and now uniting in marriage will bring them even closer together. I loved watching the connection they share and barely had to direct them as Dan stole a ton of kisses and Deb grinned ear to ear in his arms. They are such a great match, especially in how Dan’s goofiness plays off of Deb’s deadpan humour!

They finished off the evening by celebrating at the Coast Hotel in one of the ballrooms.

Congratulations, Dan and Deb!

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I started out the U of L grad week with the lovely Michelle who was celebrating her newly acquired degree! Michelle and her family came back to the city for her convocation and University of Lethbridge graduation photos. To avoid being rushed we did her session the night before grad, which I think was a fantastic move as convocation day is so crazy! Her mom and dad (mostly dad) tried their best to embarrass her during the photos but Michelle would have none of that ;) After her cap and gown photos around the university campus, we headed over to Aperture Park for more casual portraits. The rain tried to threaten us but instead we had a beautiful evening!

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While most of our weddings this year had a huge chance of being rained out, Shelly and Mark’s Paradise Canyon summer wedding never once had that threat. Instead they had an amazing hot day for their outdoor ceremony at the golf course.

They chose to hold both their ceremony and reception at the scenic Paradise Canyon Golf Resort, overlooking the coulees. With Mark’s family travelling a far distance to attend the wedding, it was fitting they got to spend this special day in such a distinct Lethbridge landscape!

It was amazing seeing Shelly and Mark interact with each other. While they are normally very collected people, they couldn’t hold back their emotions at times like seeing each other down the aisle and sharing emotional speeches. I love photographing criers ;)

Congratulations, Mark and Shelly!

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I’m so excited to see Ross and Erin’s family growing! After knowing them for many years and photographing their wedding, I’ve come to know them as super sweet people with great senses of humour and know they will make amazing parents.

They brought along their adorable dog Lazer for their late spring maternity photos at Aperture Park at the University of Lethbridge and I can already tell he’s going to make a great big brother ;) It was such a beautiful evening for photos and almost felt like summer.

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