Trash the Dress

?Written By: Bobbi Powell

Trash the Dress is just the thing for those with a sense of fun and adventure. This recent trend in wedding photography is a bride's chance to do anything and everything she ever wanted to do in a wedding gown. Given that the average bride will spend at least $800 on a wedding dress, according to statistics offered by the National Association of Wedding Ministers, it's no wonder this trend is catching on so quickly. Although it has been dubbed as trashing the dress, the name can be deceiving. In most cases you'll find the purpose of these sessions is not to ruin the dress, but simply to offer the bride a second chance to wear and pay tribute to her perfect gown.
Feel free to lay down in a field of flowers, ride a horse, run through a fountain, play in the mud, jump in a lake, or suds up in the car wash. The world is your playground, as you throw reckless abandon to the strict "don't get the dress dirty" rules of the wedding day. A beautiful wedding gown is the dream of little girls and the obsession of every bride, so why not experience all the fun a dress has to offer. All that's needed is a bride, a wedding dress, and a photographer willing to take an adventure. Cristi Dame, of Cristi Dame Photography, is just such a photographer. She recently photographed a bride in the rain and said of the photo shoot, "as we stumbled through the mud my shoes got stuck so deepthat I kicked them off rolled up my pants and got down and dirty in the mud with the bride."
Other local photographers agreed that the hardest part of doing a trash the dress photo shoot is finding a bride willing to participate. Candice Cossel of Serendipity Studios heard about Trash the Dress "by word of mouth" in the industry, and found not just a bride, but also a groom willing to participate as they took a plunge into McCall Lake the day after their wedding, fully dressed in their wedding attire.
Steven Jeffs, of Amore Photography & Design, is another photographer excited about Trash the Dress as a concept. He photographed a couple as they spent time playing around in the hay, having shot gun practice,and taking their horses for a walk through a field.
It's been said that committing to the dress can be harder than committing to the man, so before you box it, or hang it in a closet to yellow...take the time to Trash the Dress.