Lethbridge Weddings & Portrait Photography by Tanya Plonka

When Joellen and Kurtis planned to move from Alberta to Nova Scotia, they wanted to do something special to remember the area where they spent so many years raising their family. Their smoky Waterton family photos took place just before their big move while they were celebrating their 10th wedding anniversary. Luckily we could still see enough of the mountains through the smoky haze!

The family turned their photoshoot into an adventure by staying nearby overnight and then meeting me in the morning at the Prince of Wales Hotel. After some posed photos at the cliff behind the hotel, we went for a little hike around the beach below so the kids could play and let out their energy. Plus, we still had amazing views of the mountains!

Prescilla and Dane planned their entire Payne Lake summer wedding so that they could enjoy the beautiful views outside of Waterton Park all day. They rented a property along the lake so that they could have everything in one place! After getting ready at the house, they had their ceremony at the lakeside with a tented outdoor reception right next to it. It’s so beautiful there that we didn’t even need to leave for photos in another location!

Their son Levi played an important part in the day, standing in the wedding party with Dane. We made sure he was included in a bunch of their portraits, and I only made him hold his mom’s hand a couple times! They are already established as a family, and this wedding was just to officially celebrate that.

The entire day was full of laughter and many failed attempts to keep things PG. Their dogs partied harder than all of the other guests combined and were passed out before the reception even started.

Congratulations, Prescilla and Dane!

For their wedding, Pamela and Gary chose the mountainscapes of Waterton for the awe they inspire and how that relates back to how they feel about each other. Most of their Waterton Community Centre summer wedding was spent outdoors to take in the scenery. We did an incredible job avoiding the crowds on the Canada Day long weekend in Waterton! Not only did we manage to get romantic photos without too many people in the background, but we strategically found parking everywhere we went (the biggest challenge we faced that day).

Gary and Pamela’s daughter Rosie stole the show many times throughout their wedding day, which was only fitting when she is so central in their life together. It was a long day for a two year old, but she stayed awake for the whole day to enjoy every minute with their family members visiting from far away.

We took the couple away from their family for a bit to get some photos with mountain vistas, and were happy to discover the wild flowers were still in bloom. Even better, they matched the wedding colours!

Congratulations, Pamela and Gary!

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!