Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

What a year 2020 was! By the time March rolled around, we weren’t sure if we were still going to be able to call ourselves “wedding photographers” this year, or if COVID was going to cancel weddings and events completely. Quite a few of our couples decided to postpone their weddings until 2021, but the rest decided to shake up their plans and go for it!

We saw a little less travelling this year, but still managed to visit Waterton many times and went as far as the Pioneers Cabin in Edmonton. Many of the weddings were made more personal by cancelling venue reservations and moving the festivities to family’s and friend’s farms and ranches, where we found some stunning views of the Alberta landscape.

With 2020 being such an oddball, it was totally fitting that it was also a leap year! We started out the year with James and Kaylene’s leap year / 1920s themed wedding before we had any idea of what was to come.

Francine and Clayton are such an amazing couple for how easily they rolled with the changes thrown their way! Their wedding was originally planned for Castle Mountain Resort, but once the event size and distancing rules started being announced, they decided to scale back and keep their wedding small and local to them. That meant a roadtrip was in store for us! Their new plan of an Edmonton Pioneers Cabin wedding turned out beautifully and they were able to keep all of the important parts of their day.

It was so cute seeing how nervous each of them were while they got ready, but that soon melted away once they saw each other at their ceremony. We explored along the edge of Nellie McClung Park for their portraits and didn’t have to go far to get the Edmonton cityscape in the background.

With the size of the venue, they were able to have the fun reception they had always wanted with lots of space for dancing.

Congratulations, Francine and Clayton!

I’ve known Sophia since high school and though we hadn’t seen each other since, I loved watching (via Facebook) how happy she has been for many years with Mark. The two of them are such a great duo and so perfect for each other, and they decided they should finally get married!

They started out the day with a Hastings Lake Gardens wedding ceremony, followed by photos around Sherwood Park and Edmonton, and finally their reception at Royal Mayfair Golf Club. Hastings Lake Gardens was such a gorgeous location filled with beautiful flowers at the main location and fun, rustic backdrops out back.

It poured during their ceremony but despite the weather, they both had the hugest grins and could not stop laughing in happiness! Their great senses of humor made their day beautiful and happy no matter what the weather did, and we even got lucky and had the rain stop in time for outdoor portraits.

Sophia pulled some strings and got us access to an airport runway as one of our locations. Sophia is a pilot so it was such a fitting spot! They kept that theme running throughout their day and did such an amazing job with the consistency. Even their invitations were flight tickets :)

Congratulations, Mark & Sophia!

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Last weekend, Cam and I made the trek up to Fort Saskatchewan for Cathryn and Jon’s summer wedding. I met the two of them during university and haven’t seen them in years, so it was great to finally catch up! They are just such a perfect match for each other, right down to their personalities and mannerisms.

Jon broke from tradition by including a groomswoman and a groomsdog! His and Cathryn’s dog Scotty stole the show on more than one occasion that day and we had so much fun with their full wedding party.

They had both their ceremony and reception at Pioneer House, which put us conveniently close to Legacy Park and Turner Park for photos. All of the flowers in bloom, plus the canola fields, were so vibrant from the bit of rain that morning, and luckily we had a dry afternoon :)

Congratulations, Jon & Cathryn!

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We were off to Edmonton! Darby and Thomas chose the River Cree Resort as their wedding destination and it was a beautiful, perfect location for the day. From the teepees lining the entrance to the field of wildflowers complimenting their colorful flower-child theme, it was like the resort had prepared just for this wedding. They chose a vibrant rainbow color scheme for their wedding party with purple accents for themselves and everything looked so beautiful!

I mentioned before just how gentle and kind they are, and the warmth I felt from them on their wedding day was even stronger. They are such calming, wonderful people and such a pleasure to be around. The entire day was so emotional, from tears to body encompassing laughter. And while Thomas can be very subdued, he really let his personality out all day… I had no idea he had such killer dance moves!

Congratulations, Darby and Thomas! (more…)

This was a show I had been looking forward to for a LONG time. I can’t remember when I was first shown Awolnation’s music (maybe a year ago already?), but his first full length CD is by far my favorite release this year. I have been obsessed with that album, and with him not being a big name yet, a Canadian tour wasn’t looking promising. I checked the Facebook page constantly for concert updates, and I finally I saw that he was coming to Alberta. However, it was in Edmonton… so what did I do? Buy tickets the moment they came out, and drive the 6+ hours to see him, of course!

The show ended up selling out a month before because he’s really blown up lately, so I’m very thankful I plan everything far in advance. He performed with his band at the Starlite Room, and holy crap, they were fantastic – he needs to keep them on as his regular band because they are so tight together. Not knowing the venue, I didn’t want to take any expensive gear so I went equipped with only my old Rebel XT and my 50mm lens. It was a challenge, especially since most of his lighting was that gross purple-red that destroys skin tones and any facial contrast, and we were packed in so tightly, but I managed to dodge all the arms flying up around me to get some shots. The only issue is that sometimes we were too close and I couldn’t fit him in the frame… but I’m not complaining, being in the front is the best :) (more…)