Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

Remember the Scrabble marriage proposal? I had the honour of joining Meg and Shieghla again for their Bayshore Inn early spring wedding. It really is a privilege to follow people through so many important moments like these, especially when they and their families are so kind and wonderful to be around.

We returned to Waterton where they had an outdoor ceremony at the Bayshore Inn, officiated by MLA Shannon Phillips. Their children played a prominent role in the wedding – not just helping with the proposal, but by being in the wedding party! Shieghla and Meg’s sisters made up the rest of the group and led to some very emotional speeches at the reception.

Originally we hadn’t planned to return to the proposal spot at the Prince of Wales, but with most of the shorelines in town being flooded out from the recent rain and snow melt, we made a last minute change and returned to the same spot as before. Just before the reception, we went to Cameron Lake with only the couple and were happy the lake was finally visible through the snow! Shieghla and Meg were committed to the photoshoot and trudged through quite a bit of mud with us to make it to the boardwalk path that runs along the lake (a place the fires miraculously never touched). So worth the mud!

Congratulations, Meg and Shieghla!

If every wedding this year is even a fraction of how fun Kassie and Josh’s Waterton Lakes Lodge spring wedding was, we are going to have a great year! They had us laughing from when we first arrived at the hotel. The couple have such great relationships with their siblings and kept them as best friends into adulthood. No one in their group takes things too serious. This was especially obvious by how much laughter Kassie had the many times her dress caused a tripping hazard ;)

After a few getting ready photos and their first look, we took the wedding party to the still snowed over Cameron Lake. Everything looked so beautiful with the snow, and no amount of snow was about to get in our way!

Once we headed back into town, Kassie and Josh had their ceremony outdoors on the upstairs patio at the resort, giving guests a beautiful view of the mountains behind the couple. We saved all of the blowing away at the Prince of Wales lookout for the very end. For weddings like this, it makes the wind worth it!

Congratulations, Kassie and Josh!

I planned Sasindu and Kosala’s session with their final result in mind: something big to hang on their wall showing off the beautiful mountains in Waterton. They ended up choosing the very first pose we did! Their family recently moved here from BC and wanted some special photos to reflect their new home. They loved the view during their Prince of Wales family photos so much that we decided to do the whole session there with an outfit change!

The kids had a blast during photos. The hill behind the hotel was a little scary at first, but soon enough they got used to it and were able to chase each other around. Their grandmother got to come along for photos too, making it even more fun!

I love doing adventure family photos like this. Not only do the mountain destinations make for great backdrops, but it’s so fun for the kids to explore somewhere new and make memories from their day trip!

And we’re back! It felt amazing to be back at weddings now that the restrictions are starting to lift. Kari and Terry were so sweet and welcoming, so their wedding was such a fantastic start to the season. They started planning their Prince of Wales spring wedding early so we lots of time to look forward to it.

Normally we spend the day zipping around Waterton, but Kari and Terry planned to spend their whole day at the hotel. After getting ready in the beautifully renovated rooms, they had their ceremony in the hotel’s lobby with the huge floor to ceiling windows overlooking the mountains.

We had just the right amount of breaks in the rain to get Kari and Terry outside for their family and couple’s portraits, and the rainy weather meant for once there wasn’t a hint of wind!

Kari and Terry kept their guest list small with the people who are the most important to them. Between these valued relationships and the relief of finding out everyone could come, there was a lot of crying! Kari’s daughter had to keep reminding her not to cry off her makeup and during the ceremony at least half the guests had tissues ready.

p.s. I think it’s so cute they have rhyming names, but quickly found out a mask muffles who I am actually speaking to when posing! We had to fall back on “K & T” for directions ;)

Congratulations, Kari & Terry!

I love seeing my past wedding clients growing their families! Vanessa and Robbie made a day trip down for their Waterton winter maternity session. This was one of the rare times I got to photograph snow this winter, so I appreciated it despite the freezing temperatures! Vanessa herself was super brave to strip down to her dress and no coat a few times. It helped that they came prepared with mochas to warm up on!

We adventured through what was open in the park. Luckily we were able to access nearly everything since Waterton didn’t yet have snow up to the rooftops! We set up a little mocha picnic on one of the snowy trails and confused a few hikers.

When Meg wanted to ask her partner Shieghla to marry her, she decided it was going to be a group effort. After first asking Shieghla’s children for permission, she arranged a gift certificate with me. Their Waterton surprise proposal session was disguised as family photos for an anniversary gift. Meg then had oversized custom Scrabble tiles made by Nixynn Fine Wood Products – Scrabble is one of their favourite hobbies to do together – and came up with a plan for their family members to sneak the tiles into the session.

I met up with the family at Linnet Lake to start with regular portraits, and work through some of Meaghan’s nerves until she was ready to ask the question!

Finally it was time at the Prince of Wales! Meg and I had shared diagrams and code words before the proposal session. I asked the other family members to stand to the side while I took photos of the couple, giving them a chance to stealthily pull the Scrabble tiles out.

Shieghla was shocked and had never expected it! (Of course she said yes!) Her and Meg were so lost in the moment, they didn’t even hear the onlooking tourists clapping for them!

Congratulations, Meg and Shieghla!