Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

Last month I had the pleasure of being involved with the farm to table tour hosted by Lethbridge non-profit The Oldman Watershed Council. The free tour included lunch from The Penny Coffeehouse, a tour of a farm near Coaldale, and a photography lesson from myself. Even though it was cold, we all had a lot of fun!

The photo lesson centred around taking control of the settings on your DSLR or mirrorless camera and we started while on the drive to the farm (courtesy of a party bus from California Dream Limo). Once at the farm, the landowners gave us a detailed tour and explained the work that goes into the farm. We got to meet all the friendly animals who live there, the most friendly being an extroverted goat and a small orange kitten who joined us on the entire tour.

Thank you to everyone who came and braved the rain!

Skye and Dave held their Lethbridge County farm wedding at their own place. It made the outdoor event so much more meaningful for them and their guests, and meant the dogs got to take part throughout the day. Just like at their engagement session, their dogs were absolutely excited about everything. Once they got used to all the people there, the dogs followed us around for photos and were easily distracted with a game of fetch.

A lot of work had been done since I was last at their farm. Dave cleaned up all of the areas we had discussed using for portraits, and Skye put so much work into the flower arrangements throughout their yard. They decorated their back patio and yard with hanging lights for an evening outdoor reception, and created a beautiful laid back country wedding.

Congratulations, Skye and Dave!

Skye and Dave are getting married at their farm next month, and decided to give it a test run by doing their engagement photos there first! They did their Coaldale farm engagement photos with the help of their energetic dogs Kip and Kyra. It is honestly pretty funny how clingy the dogs were! They took serious bribery to get them out of the photos.

There were so many beautiful spots on the farm that we’ll have no shortage on the wedding day! Skye and Dave are super sweet together and both have such happy personalities. Any serious moments we tried for didn’t last very long before turning into big smiles again. :)

Rebecca and Aaron’s Countryside Barn summer wedding was a family-focused event that included their children at the forefront and incorporated many of Aaron’s family’s cultural traditions. They chose their date to coincide with Rebecca’s parents’ anniversary and several family members’ birthdays, so as they carried the date through COVID delays, their final date ended up on a Monday.

Not a single attention to detail was overlooked. (Not surprising when they are teachers!) Their navy and gold colour scheme continued through every detail, even the flowers, and they ensured their guests had tons of activities to keep them entertained. The most central feature was the teepee, which was the most popular (especially with the kids!).

Even though they had a few stressful starts to the day, they were so laid back and able to ride the flow of the day and enjoy themselves. This was my first time doing a wedding at Countryside Barn Venue, and it couldn’t have been for a better couple :)

Congratulations, Rebecca and Aaron!

Haley and Ryan were met with a ton of challenges in planning their wedding. After a year long postponement due to COVID and having to change their outdoor venue from a local park to a private farm wedding ceremony, their wedding day brought a new challenge of rain! If rain on the wedding day is a sign of good luck, it seems even more fortunate that it would stop just as their ceremony began. Their location hosts did an amazing job running around drying off seats and it didn’t take long into the vows for their guests to be able to put their umbrellas away.

This year has been so fantastic for very personal wedding officiants. Ryan’s cousin performed their ceremony, which made it so much more special. Family played a vital role throughout the day as they also had all of their siblings and a number of cousins in their wedding party.

Portraits were done at Pavan Park where the group really got started partying, followed by their reception that night at the Italian Canadian Club. Everyone there was so happy and excited to celebrate the couple; as soon as the dance floor opened, it was packed!

Congratulations, Haley and Ryan!

Frank and Joanne got their three children and their families together for Picture Butte extended family photos at their farm house. Each set of little kids was so excited to spend a morning playing with their cousins. When it wasn’t their turn for photos, they could be found running around with each other.

The family farm was such a meaningful location to do their photos. In addition to growing up there, most of the family lives very close by so they have a lot of special memories at the farm. Frank and Joanne are so proud of the life they have built for their family and it really showed in their interactions with their grandchildren.