Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

2018 was a great year! Cam and I spent so much of the year with people totally in love and the joy was contagious. These probably aren’t truly our best wedding photos from the last year, but they definitely made me smile going back through the memories!

This year we saw a bride ride a horse for the first time ever in her wedding dress, photographed through smoky skies, and laughed at far more hilarious kids than any past year. Like, so many kids let loose this year that there must have been some memo passed around at the beginning of the wedding season.

Even though I picked most of these out of my blog edits, I made it a goal to choose photos that have never been on social media! There’s a good chance you’ve never seen most of these. Unless you’re my mom – she reads and likes pretty much everything I post. (Hi, Mom!)

I hope you enjoy looking through our best wedding photos of 2018 as much as I liked choosing them!

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Lindsay and Terry love spending time outdoors, especially if it means visiting the Crowsnest Pass. Since their wedding is taking place in Lethbridge, they wanted to include this favorite destination of theirs in their engagement session instead. It’s always so tough to narrow down the scenic locations there! They decided on Lundbreck Falls autumn engagement photos, which was a perfect time of year as nearly all the tourists were gone. We got so lucky with the weather too! Despite a heavy snowfall warning, down below the mountains the fall landscape held on in gorgeous red and yellow tones. Only the mountain tops were dusted with a coating of snow to show the seasons colliding. Terry and Lindsay did an amazing job pretending it was warmer than it was (behind the scenes I was in a poofy parka!) and we were pleased to discover how much warmer it was at the base of the falls!

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It’s such an honour when couples have us spend the day with them when everything else is otherwise very intimate. Kelsie and Scott had a Lundbreck ranch outdoor wedding ceremony at his parents’ place and planned a low key event for their small but important guest list. To embrace the ranch theme, Kelsie wore a beautiful summer dress and cowboy boots and they used their vintage pickup truck both for photos and transportation.

After their ceremony overlooking the mountains, we travelled around the area making stops at Lundbreck Falls, the Burmis Tree, and Hillcrest for portraits. This gave Kelsie and Scott tons of private time during driving to spend with each other before rejoining their friends and family for their dinner reception in Waterton.

Kelsie and Scott were so great to work with! We took them through water and trees, and Kelsie was thrilled to have a chance to go barefoot in the creek for a few photos. (It was a welcome relief from the heat that day so I understand her excitement!) They are so happy together that I never had to remind them to smile at each other :)

Congratulations, Kelsie and Scott!

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Amanda and Jesse decided to do Lundbreck Falls summer engagement photos to make use of the beautiful weather we had this summer. It also gave us an excuse to go on a bit of an adventure for photos as their wedding will be taking place in the city. They are so comfortable in each other’s arms and exude happiness together. They are such a perfect couple!

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Just because you are planning a low key, intimate wedding, it doesn’t mean it can’t be elegant and gorgeously put together! Levi and Heather made great use of the rental property his parents run when they planned their Goat Mountain Getaway autumn wedding. The property was closed to vacationers for the weekend while Heather, Levi, and their closest friends and family gathered outside (and shed many happy tears) for their ceremony and reception. They could not have picked a more perfect weekend to capture the fall colours in the Crowsnest Pass. As a special touch, Levi’s father performed the ceremony (and was restricted to no more than three f-bombs!).

I loved how many amazing locations we were able to use at Goat Mountain Getaway. Although the property is fairly small, it was compressed with forests, mountain views, a teepee and even a tire swing! It was then so easy to drive a minute across the highway for the amazing views on Old Frank Road before we headed over to Lundbreck Falls.

We really appreciated being able to spend so much time with just Heather and Levi (who chose not to have a wedding party). The two of them are so madly in love and natural together, constantly melting into each other arms. Levi’s range of emotions and Heather’s ear to ear grin as she approached him in the aisle really showed how crazy they are for each other.

Congratulations, Levi and Heather!

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Shaun and Jill had a rough start to their year but their wedding more than made up for that with how flawlessly it went, thanks in huge part to the many hours both of their mothers spent planning and organizing!

They held a Crowsnest Pass private estate outdoor wedding ceremony under Turtle Mountain in Jill’s parents’ yard. I refer to their ceremony venue as a “private estate” not because it technically is one, but because the term “backyard” doesn’t do it justice! This amazing property is beautifully landscaped and runs along the Crowsnest River. Jill’s family put so much work into getting the property set up for the wedding, with huge tents for the guests to sit under, ample parking, and refreshments. I love how they set the guests away from the ceremony so that it still had a very intimate feel.

Jill and Shaun are both very down to earth, happy people, making it such a pleasure to be around them for the day. Their commitment is so strong after already being together for a number of years and they are so comfortable with each other.

One very special part of the day was that they hired a bagpiper to celebrate Jill’s Scottish heritage and they got him to come along for extra photos, giving us a custom soundtrack for the day!

After portraits, we headed to the MDM Community Centre (the old elementary school of both me and Jill!) for their reception.

Congratulations, Jill and Shaun!

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