Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

It’s not every day I get to take Lethbridge professional wrestling photos, but this summer I found myself capturing the promotional photos for local wrestler Kenn Stevens. (This is such new ground for me that I’m not even sure what category to put this under on my blog!) Lethbridge may not have a big wrestling scene, but Kenn is the now the third person I know who takes part in this amazing form of entertainment! I have a couple friends who retired from the sport some time again so I’m glad to see it alive and doing well in new wrestlers.

2019 was a busy one for us with Cam and I travelling all over the province! We got to take photos in some fun new places this year, including Heritage Acres and Boulder Run in Pincher Creek, the town of De Winton, and the rooftop patio of the Helen Schuler Nature Centre. Waterton was a very popular destination this year and we spent so much time there, I considered setting up a tent!

The winter weddings started in September with our first huge snowfall of the season, giving their Brazilian guests a real taste of Canada.

Animals stole the show many times this year. One couple was stalked by a cat, another bride included her pet cow in photos, and so many dogs got to witness their people get married.

From a red wedding dress to Harry Potter magic to alleyway beer shotgunning, 2019 was an unforgettable year.

I hope you enjoy looking through our best wedding photos of 2019 as much as I liked choosing them!

If you’ve ever seen a large outdoor ad in Lethbridge (which I’m sure you have!), chances are Andy made it possible. Andy is the Lethbridge rep for Pattison Outdoor Advertising. He was in need of some updated photos showing the work he does and what products he offers to businesses looking to advertise.

We split the photoshoot into two segments. In the first, Andy pulled some strings to get two City of Lethbridge buses sent to Henderson Lake to focus on Pattison’s awesome wrap around bus ads.

For our next photo outing, Andy gave me a tour of where their top performing locations are throughout Lethbridge. We stopped in each spot and Andy was prepared with super fun poses for each one.

Amberlea and Kevin knew they wanted their wedding ceremony somewhere beautiful outdoors while still making everything easy for their small guest list. A rooftop garden was the perfect solution! They decided on a Helen Schuler wedding elopement. Only their limited guests, mostly made up of their parents and children, knew the big secret… until Amberlea posted the news on Facebook to invite everyone to their reception at the Owl Acoustic Lounge later that night!

After their emotional rooftop wedding, they headed downtown for photos of just the two of them. Their vintage Chevy owning friend met us by Drunken Sailor, a very special place to Amberlea who used to work there. It’s also where she bought her wedding dress! We had a bit of a scare when the truck wouldn’t start but it pulled through just in time for us to use it in the nearby alley.

Congratulations, Amberlea and Kevin!

Jannette and Adrian may be one of our most enthusiastic couples this year! They were both very excited about the photography planning from the very beginning and I loved Jannette’s level of involvement in all of her wedding details. Together we reached the decision of doing Nikka Yuko wedding photos for the majority of their portraits. As soon as they walked into the Japanese Gardens (the first time either of them had visited) and exclaimed, “Wow!” I knew we had chosen the perfect location!

The air was heavy with smoke that day but it didn’t get anyone’s spirits down. Everyone spent the day laughing and having fun, and the couple were so excited and willing to go along with every photo idea we had. This meant climbing over rocks in the water and spending a little extra time in a cathedral length veil that was struggling to survive the day!

We had a blast laughing with them all day and appreciated how much time they set aside for portraits, including an extra evening photography session around sunset.

Congratulations, Jannette and Adrian!

After one year off, Ammena Dance Company is back!

It was so fun to return to poster design brainstorming with her. With a number of Beyonce songs in the show this year, we were inspired by both a classic European feel as well as the aesthetics from the music video for Formation. Donning a very Beyonce-inspired wide brimmed hat that will be used in one of the pieces, we explored downtown Lethbridge around her new studio location. We were very generously given access to a private property that made it onto the final poster, and had been exactly the feel we were going for.

This year’s show will feature Bollywood, tango, bellydance, burlesque, The Greatest Showman, Footloose and more, so please come check it out! There will be lots of themes of starting anew :)

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