Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

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 :)

Micah & Steven had a very chilly Lethbridge winter engagement session in November. With enough warm car breaks we were able to take full advantage of the winter wonderland that was the coulees that day! The snow around the river bottom looked so beautiful, and especially magical in the golden hour we lucked out with on this sunny day.

Their dog Korra came dressed in the finest formal wear a dog can have, and lasted for a little bit before the cold tippy taps started. (The couple wisely brought a dog wrangler along so Korra could hide out in the car earlier.)

The three of them make such a cute family and I’m glad the snow couldn’t stop us from having a fun outdoor photoshoot.

Congratulations, Micah & Steven!

When Kelsey and Aaron got engaged, they wanted to celebrate with family as soon as possible! The couple from Ontario booked a trip to Alberta at the very end of summer to visit Kelsey’s father’s side of the family. They decided to celebrate their mini family reunion with a portrait session at Nicholas Sheran Lake in Lethbridge.

Kelsey was so excited to see her grandparents again! These photos were a big deal since her grandmother is usually behind the camera taking photos of the rest of the family. They finally got to get her in the photos!

We took the opportunity to spend half of the session on family photos and half on engagement photos of the couple. Kelsey loves being around water, so Nicholas Sheran was the perfect location for them.

Skye and Dave are getting married at their farm next month, and decided to give it a test run by doing their engagement photos there first! They did their Coaldale farm engagement photos with the help of their energetic dogs Kip and Kyra. It is honestly pretty funny how clingy the dogs were! They took serious bribery to get them out of the photos.

There were so many beautiful spots on the farm that we’ll have no shortage on the wedding day! Skye and Dave are super sweet together and both have such happy personalities. Any serious moments we tried for didn’t last very long before turning into big smiles again. :)

I’ll be travelling out of Lethbridge for Erin and Jean’s wedding, but for now they came to Lethbridge for their stunning Pavan Park golden hour engagement photos. Erin and Jean wanted a country feel for their engagement photos to match their upcoming wedding, and I love the horse trails in Pavan Park for that vibe. The day they picked was so perfect in the river bottom. The entire park was already full of rich golden tones despite it being so early in autumn.

Erin and Jean have a beautiful quiet calmness with each other. They are both such sweet people, and I can’t wait to spend their wedding day with them!

Ashley and Stefan took a detour while on their way to visit family and made a special stop for Crowsnest winter engagement photos. We lucked out with a fresh snowfall just in time because even the Crowsnest Pass was looking a little brown and dry for this time of year!

The couple were involved with another wedding I’ve photographed, so it was so much fun to get to focus on them this time! They have such great energy and are so cute and snugly together.

We started with the Miner’s Path for a forest look then headed into the wind to get a mountain view. (At this point Stefan pondered why he let his hair grow long, ha ha.)

I can’t wait for their wedding!