Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

After Krysty styled her engagement session so beautifully, I was excited to see what she had in store for her wedding day! Her and Kole carefully planned out each beautiful detail of the day, from their lemonade stand to keep their guests refreshed at the ceremony to their 200 sparkler exit at the end of the evening. Continuing with the cycling theme, they featured gold-painted bicycle wheels as decorations, Kole wore cufflinks shaped like bikes, and they rented a tandem bicycle for their wedding photos.

Their Lethbridge Research Centre outdoor wedding ceremony could not have taken place on a nicer day! They had warm sunshine and no wind, while just a hint of the autumn colours were starting to appear. Their ceremony was so emotional with each of them fighting back tears through their huge grins.

Krysty’s attention to detail gave us so much creativity during portraits (they also rented a super cool large vintage couch!) and their wedding party made the day so much fun. We even took a detour to visit the Love and Records music festival. Kole and Krysty were just as photogenic as at their engagement session so they made our job pretty easy ;)

By reception time, everyone was ready to party. The dance floor was never empty and grandma danced more than anyone else there! Krysty and Kole totally nailed their first dance choreography after their many dance lessons… even though it was Krysty’s first time ever doing it in the wedding dress.

Congratulations, Krysty and Kole!

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Jennifer and David have already built a life together but decided to make it official this year! They threw a party for their family and closest friends by having a Southern Alberta Art Gallery wedding.

The years they’ve already been together have only made their love grow deeper. They had the hugest grins when they saw each other during their first look and constantly fought back tears during the ceremony at the SAAG. They are such a sweet couple and are so perfect for each other.

Their reception at the SAAG was filled with lots of dancing and laughter. Instead of a sit down dinner, they served a spread of creative (and delicious!) appetizers from LA Chefs, allowing their guests more time to mingle.

Congratulations, Jennifer and David!

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I can’t believe how much he’s grown up! I first met Jarred for his family photos around 6 years ago, and now that he’s graduating high school, he’s gotten a little older! Jarred has become quite the model and was so photogenic I barely had to do any directing for his photos. His mom made sure to keep some distance from the photo shoot so she wouldn’t cry too much ;)

We started out our session in Galt Gardens on a beautiful, warm evening, then headed over to Casa for some indoor grad photos. The blues in Jarred’s suit (and socks) looked so great with all of our locations.

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Hanna was such a treat to work with! We had her Casa grad session on a beautiful summer evening and lucked out with no rain so we could also go outside. She had such a stunning, perfectly fitting white gown, as well as a classy scarf to change things up (complete with a gorgeous brooch from her aunt). Hanna is so charismatic and has such a wonderful huge laugh, making her super easy to photograph.

Casa made the perfect backdrop for the beginning of her photos. The warm colors there really made her dress pop and it looked fantastic for the Audrey Hepburn, classic vibe she loves. Galt Gardens, conveniently across the street, had such beautiful sunlight by the time we went outside!

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This year I had the honor of photographing the World AIDS Day event held by the Lethbridge HIV Connection in Galt Gardens. People gathered together to form a human ribbon, illuminated only by candles (such a wonderful idea!). Despite it being a little chilly the turn out was great, and I got to crash the fashion show at the SAAG in my full winter attire, climb through a little trap door, and take the photo from the SAAG’s roof… not your typical Friday night! The wind made the candle-lit ribbon short lived, but it turned out great despite that :) (more…)

Stefanie just started a new career here in Lethbridge after finishing her PhD and was in need of some professional photos, but I loved her style so we just had to do some casual portraits in there too :) Stefanie was great to work with and I loved her sarcastic sense of humor – I thrive on the stuff! (more…)