Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

Ana and Nick wanted to get married with mountain views so they chose to have a Waterton Community Center wedding ceremony and reception. Their outdoor ceremony was perfect to take in the landscape of the national park, and we didn’t have to travel far to take photos at Cameron Falls and the beach overlooking the mountains.

My favourite part of Ana and Nick’s wedding is that Ana made her own dress and used fabric and lace from her mom’s wedding dress to create it. Even better, she made it a two piece convertible and turned it into a shortened version for their reception. She did a beautiful job but with that much work they joked she’d never make another wedding dress again ;)

Their wedding party were hilarious and kept all of us laughing all day, whether it was taking turns with the veil or totally nailing my instructions to “be geese.”

Congratulations, Ana and Nick!

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!

Cody contacted me all the way from the US to plan out his Waterton winter surprise proposal to his girlfriend Makenzie, and this was a situation where she wouldn’t even know they were getting photos taken!

We lucked out with their anniversary trip falling right after the cold snap so he could justify taking her on a scenic walk. We did, however, run into a few snags with our plan! I arrived to find the location I gave him closed to vehicle traffic, requiring a bit of a hike through very deep snow up the Prince of Wales road. Once I was ready, I received word from Cody that they had gotten “stuck” at a restaurant and he was trying to rush them out without raising any suspicions. He gave me regular updates when he went to “wash his hands” in the restroom!

Not having met them, I had to guess who they were without staring. It didn’t help that two other couples came by around when I expected Cody and Makenzie to arrive! I didn’t expect it to be so busy there with the road being closed! One of the couples was even stopping to take cell phone photos like Cody and I had worked out in our plan.

Finally the right people arrived. I did such a good job pretending to be a landscape photographer that Makenzie was worried they would get in my way and wreck the photo I was taking! Once he proposed and pointed me out, I didn’t have to be so awkward ;)

They were both so happy after the big question that it made the rest of the photos a breeze! They followed me around the town of Waterton to the best locations, and had a truly memorable engagement story :)

Remember the Scrabble marriage proposal? I had the honour of joining Meg and Shieghla again for their Bayshore Inn early spring wedding. It really is a privilege to follow people through so many important moments like these, especially when they and their families are so kind and wonderful to be around.

We returned to Waterton where they had an outdoor ceremony at the Bayshore Inn, officiated by MLA Shannon Phillips. Their children played a prominent role in the wedding – not just helping with the proposal, but by being in the wedding party! Shieghla and Meg’s sisters made up the rest of the group and led to some very emotional speeches at the reception.

Originally we hadn’t planned to return to the proposal spot at the Prince of Wales, but with most of the shorelines in town being flooded out from the recent rain and snow melt, we made a last minute change and returned to the same spot as before. Just before the reception, we went to Cameron Lake with only the couple and were happy the lake was finally visible through the snow! Shieghla and Meg were committed to the photoshoot and trudged through quite a bit of mud with us to make it to the boardwalk path that runs along the lake (a place the fires miraculously never touched). So worth the mud!

Congratulations, Meg and Shieghla!

I love seeing my past wedding clients growing their families! Vanessa and Robbie made a day trip down for their Waterton winter maternity session. This was one of the rare times I got to photograph snow this winter, so I appreciated it despite the freezing temperatures! Vanessa herself was super brave to strip down to her dress and no coat a few times. It helped that they came prepared with mochas to warm up on!

We adventured through what was open in the park. Luckily we were able to access nearly everything since Waterton didn’t yet have snow up to the rooftops! We set up a little mocha picnic on one of the snowy trails and confused a few hikers.

When Meg wanted to ask her partner Shieghla to marry her, she decided it was going to be a group effort. After first asking Shieghla’s children for permission, she arranged a gift certificate with me. Their Waterton surprise proposal session was disguised as family photos for an anniversary gift. Meg then had oversized custom Scrabble tiles made by Nixynn Fine Wood Products – Scrabble is one of their favourite hobbies to do together – and came up with a plan for their family members to sneak the tiles into the session.

I met up with the family at Linnet Lake to start with regular portraits, and work through some of Meaghan’s nerves until she was ready to ask the question!

Finally it was time at the Prince of Wales! Meg and I had shared diagrams and code words before the proposal session. I asked the other family members to stand to the side while I took photos of the couple, giving them a chance to stealthily pull the Scrabble tiles out.

Shieghla was shocked and had never expected it! (Of course she said yes!) Her and Meg were so lost in the moment, they didn’t even hear the onlooking tourists clapping for them!

Congratulations, Meg and Shieghla!