Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

Dammy and Jeff had a private backyard elopement in Edmonton, and then saved all of their fancy photos for when they were back in Lethbridge. This made everything so laid back! We did their Lethbridge wedding portraits at Nicholas Sheran Lake where they brought along some of their wedding floral arrangements and set up a mini wedding site in the park.

Dammy’s son David was of course an integral part of their day as they enter their blended family, but we made sure he got to take lots of breaks so he wouldn’t get bored by the end ;)

After we finished with their wedding attire, the family put on more casual outfits and we headed to the High Level Bridge. Dammy wanted to have something “very Lethbridge” to celebrate her time here before she moved to Edmonton full time, and nothing says Lethbridge like the bridge!

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.

Rob and Robbi didn’t need a special occasion to update family photos – they were just overdue for one and had a weekend where all of their grandchildren were available! Their son and daughter’s families joined them for Nicholas Sheran Park family photos just as the beautiful fall colours were starting to come out.

Everyone had a great time hanging out behind the scenes when it wasn’t their turn for photos, especially the cousins! There was no shortage of piggy back rides and flipping the younger girls upside down.

Ligia is an amazing mom to these three boys! She tries to regularly update their mom and sons photos as the boys grow older. This year was an especially great snapshot of growing up as her middle son is in the missing front teeth phase of childhood!

We met up for photos at Nicholas Sheran Park at the end of summer. The boys had so much fun with each other and their adorable chihuahua!

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.

It was so exciting to see Chelsey have her turn in a wedding dress after photographing her sister’s wedding a few years ago! Chelsey looked stunning in her mermaid-style dress. Her and Rick were great sports through the sweltering heat and swarms of mosquitoes we encountered that day. They powered through their photos with very few AC breaks and were in such great spirits.

We first met with their families at Park Lake (land of mosquitoes). Not only were they lucky with beautiful weather, but the long weekend crowds hadn’t arrived at the lake yet and we had unlimited space for photos!

Next we made our way into Lethbridge to take them closer to their reception, starting with Nicholas Sheran wedding photos and then visiting the university. The groomsmen hilariously took over my job once in a while and called out instructions for the couple to kiss or laugh. Rick and Chelsey had such a fun afternoon spending the time laughing with their friends.

Congratulations, Chelsey and Rick!