Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

After photographing many of their family member’s weddings, I was excited to hear Makayla and Cornell were the next in line to wed! We started off their Picture Butte late summer wedding photos at the family’s beautiful property that backs onto the coulees. Just like a few years ago at a sibling’s wedding, the view was very smoky! Luckily the smoke looks amazing in the coulees :)

Their nieces and nephews were (mostly) excited to have a photographer come visit and gave us all kinds of adorable poses! We had quite a few family members tasked with removing photobombing children from photos, and later the dogs and barn kittens started crashing the shoot too!

The Picture Butte Golf Club was very generous with letting us run around the course for photos and explore the grounds with a whole fleet of golf carts.

Makayla and Cornell have such a great group of people they call friends. Like the other weddings, we spent the day in laughter and never knew what silliness to expect when we turned around. They have such great senses of humour and will have an amazing lifetime together making each other laugh.

Congratulations, Makayla and Cornell!

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All summer I’ve looked forward to returning to Monica and Dave’s beautiful property for their Claresholm outdoor ranch wedding. If the landscape looked that great for engagement photos, I couldn’t wait to see Monica in her dress there! (One amazing detail about their wedding is that Monica is very talented and made her own wedding dress.)

Monica and Dave chose the open field near the treeline to set up their reception tent and scenic ceremony, and invited their closest family members to witness the event. Their children stood with them as their wedding party and all played key roles in the ceremony. Monica’s son walked her down the aisle, Dave’s two boys read bible passages, and Dave’s daughter played guitar.

Their guests got to relax while we explored the ranch for photos and took in the amazing views. Monica and Dave were even more giggly when they looked at each other than at their engagement session!

Congratulations, Monica and Dave!

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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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I went out for a bit of a drive to join Monica and Dave for their Claresholm ranch engagement photography a few miles outside of the town. We took their vehicle up to the rocky hill overlooking the ranch, through the herd of inquisitive cows enjoying their dinner. From up there we had sweeping views of the foothills surrounding their property, starting to pick up the soft green tones as spring began to spread throughout the fields.

Monica and Dave were so easy to photograph together. They are always making each other giggle and it’s probably lucky for me I was just out of earshot during when I’m pretty sure he was telling her dirty jokes to get more laughs! Even when my camera was placed down to plan the next photo, they’d pull each other in for another embrace and I’d quickly start snapping again.

I can’t wait to explore the area further on their wedding day this summer when they’re dressed all fancy!

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Last year I second shot a rural outdoor wedding with a friend and loved sneaking away between events to photograph all the critters who lived at the farm! Their large collection of chickens roamed around, keeping an eye on our doings, while the sweet horses watched from afar.

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Tayler had a new addition to add to her annual Barnwell family pet photos this year… their adorable Husky Winter! Winter joined their family a year ago and is a perfect companion to the other seasonal dogs, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. Winter fits right in and loves playing with her fur siblings! I love coming out to Tayler’s house every year for her portrait session and hanging out with her, her mom, and all of their adorable critters. This year we had to work a little faster because it kept raining. This came as a surprise as it was one of the very few days it rained all summer! Luckily most of the animals didn’t mind being outside when it was damp. The cats were the exception, but it was a little easier to round each one up for a special portrait with Tayler when they were all hiding inside in the dryness ;)

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