Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

I decided I was due for a sample album update this year and chose to create a Lethbridge Research Centre wedding album out of Krysty and Kole’s wedding last September. Their wedding was a perfect fit to show potential clients as it starts with both of them getting ready at the Lethbridge Coast Hotel in the morning and has all parts of the day until their sparkler exit at night.

The full page spreads of the Modern+ Album were perfect for showing off large images of their ceremony at the Lethbridge Research Centre, full wedding party against the coulees, and sunset photos at Henderson Lake just before dinner.

Choosing the spine colour was a tough choice as their wedding had a few gray tones, but the natural colours on the cusp of autumn would look amazing in a brown. In the end I chose the dark brown leather spine and chocolate album bag to accent their photos. Thanks to the popularity of this album style and its really fast turnaround time, this year forward I’ll only be offering this style for weddings. If you’ve seen the other styles and still prefer those, they are still available by special request!

(more…)

Earlier this year I had another opportunity to second shoot for the lovely Photography by Andrea Hulst when she invited me to Henk and Melinda’s wedding. We started the morning in Picture Butte while the couple got ready at their family homes and then joined them at the Netherlands Reformed Congregation for their ceremony. We spent the rest of the afternoon doing their early spring Lethbridge wedding photography around the river bottom parks, hunting for the first signs of spring that were starting to appear.

Congratulations, Melinda and Henk!

(more…)

You might recognize Alyssa from her solo performances, or from her wedding photos I did a few years ago. She’s been busy this year with her band Coyote Junction and I got together with them in Lethbridge to update their band photos to use in promotional materials. Since they are a country rock band, we went with a look that was rustic (but not dilapidated!) and there were so many great textures to fit this look where we wandered around. The neighbourhood we chose happened to be full of people who knew members of the band, so we had to take a few breaks to say hello! It was like they had an entourage following them ;)

You can hear music from Coyote Junction by checking out their Facebook page!

(more…)

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!

(more…)

Sophia and Alki held their Lethbridge Greek Orthodox wedding on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Their day was the epitome of celebration! The entire day was full of dancing, singing, and laughter. Not once did the smile fade from Sophia’s face!

Once both of them were finished getting ready, Alki arrived at Sophia’s house to see her for the first time and escort her and her bridesmaids to the church. It was a beautiful greeting with lots of flowers and singing. Their intimate ceremony at the Orthodox Church had Sophia so happy that even when she tried to be serious, she burst out into a larger grin :)

With their reception taking place at the Galt Museum, they were able to make use of the surrounding beauty of the landscape with portraits in Indian Battle Park and, later on, a quick session on the edge of the coulees at sunset.

The music was a huge highlight of their party that evening. Sophia composed their first dance waltz, sang a special song for Alki, and they were serenaded by family members with congratulatory songs. They finished off the evening with lots of fun Greek dancing!

Congratulations, Sophia and Alki!

(more…)

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!

(more…)