2025 Wedding Highlights
As wedding season wraps for me this year I wanted to share a few key highlights from the beautiful wedding season I had an opportunity to be part of. As a Lethbridge Wedding Photographer you may assume I shoot most of my weddings in the Lethbridge area – however this season I spent most of the season on the road documenting love stories in a variety of locations across Alberta!
Favourite Venues of 2025
The winner of this award goes to Black Barn, located about 30 minutes outside of Edmonton. I wrote an entire blog post on this beautiful wedding venue and all its beautiful features. You can check out the detailed blog here.
This venue was perfect for many reasons but the key components of this venue rental that I loved where being able to stay on sight the entire day and still capture so many unique backdrops by simply turning the couple slightly to the left or the right (ha-ha!). Blooming canola fields, forested areas, venue features like the black barn itself, the pavilion, the fairy lit courtyard, and the stunning outer buildings made this venue so versatile and really saved precious time in my clients timeline as we did not need to travel anywhere to nail different aesthetics. I can’t wait for all the upcoming 2026/2027 wedding bookings I’ve accepted here and look so forward to being back in Edmonton to share in more Black Barn love stories!
My second favourite and most unique venue location was photographing an August wedding in Rocky Mountain House. This lovely couple booked out a campsite right on the river, tucked in between stunning mountain ranges and rented glamping tents to create a beautiful pop-up venue. We had complete privacy as the bridal party danced the night away under the stars and we utilized the river and forest around us for stunning portraits.
Another location I had the privilege of shooting at where two beautiful weddings at my favourite Lethbridge wedding Venue, The Norland Historic Estate. Another full blog post was written about the Bridgerton style beauty that this venue has to offer – it is always a treat to be back!
With 12 other fantastic venues in the mix, these were only a few of note – every venue was so unique and individual to the couple – reminding me how venue choice is so personal and specific to each of the couples that I serve, and the end goal they have for their gallery deliverables.
Other places I traveled to photograph weddings include: Calgary, Okotoks, Cheadle, Crowsnest Pass, Waterton, Fort Macleod, Diamond City and Rainier.
Favourite Moments of the 2025 Wedding Season
The first look between Megan and Brandon at the Black Barn – so sweet, so emotional and another reminder of how much I love an intimate first look and vow renewal!
Bridal portraits with Xiomara and Brandon at The Norland Historic Estate – they literally left 2.5 hours in their timeline for formal portraits (which is every wedding photographers dream!) we had so much fun exploring The Norland together and capturing the most intimate and beautiful portraits directly following their wedding ceremony.
Golf carting around Heritage Pointe Golf Club with Taylor and Brian and capturing a huge variety of formal, candid and posed bridals with them. I love a bride who loves pictures! This wedding was also a highlight because my husband joined me to second shoot and shot one of Taylor’s favourite images of the whole collection – this made me jealous but proud!
What I learned in the 2025 Wedding Season
I strengthened my understanding of light, composition and flash. I had so much fun playing around with new techniques and working with the new equipment that I bought for this season. Image quality and artistic insight saw massive leaps from my 2024 Wedding Season and deepened my commitment to never stop learning and never stay stuck with the same poses or prompts – each wedding and couple is so unique, and I fully lean into the energy my couples bring to their special day to create art that matches their story!
Basically, I learned that my turnaround time is unheard of, the client experience that I offer goes far beyond the description of a wedding photographer (and is such a rare, full service option in the sea of local wedding photographers), the level of preparedness I put into each wedding guaranteed every single wedding went off without a hitch and that although I will continue to offer this incredible service to my clients, my prices must go up so I can serve every couple to my fullest.
Other things I learned
I learned that I cannot drive 2 hours to a wedding, shoot for 8-10 hours and drive home all in the same day. This season pushed me and taught me a lot about travel and what is necessary to perform a wedding with maximum energy and no travel related delay anxiety (no, I was not late for any of my weddings no matter the distance – in fact I arrived way too early to every single one!). Travel fees are changing in 2026/2027 – new travel fee policies have been updated on my FAQ page 😊
As my business grows and evolves, I am so grateful to all of the wonderful wedding couples I had the opportunity of serving and photographing this season in Lethbridge and Alberta. Thank you for your kind words, referrals and new profile pictures! I cannot wait for the 2026 wedding season to start.
Hard work and a solid and consistent dedication to your clients pays off! I was so thrilled to win Best Three Wedding Photographers in Lethbridge for 2025, as well as the Top Award in Best Wedding Photographers Lethbridge, Community Votes Competition! All the love is so appreciated!
Love, your favourite Lethbridge Wedding Photographer
Allie Cooke Photography