How About This - Will you Trash the Dress? Oh My!

Trash the dress, fearless bridal, and rock the frock refers to photography that contrasts elegant clothing with an environment in which it is completely out of place. The possibilities are endless, beaches, city streets, rooftops, garbage dumps, fields, and abandoned buildings are only few examples of trash the dress session locations. Read the article below and decide if you will Trash the Dress.

Photo By Corrina Hoffman Photography

Why Trash the Dress? article by Steve Gerrard Photography

The media seem to be picking up on the whole Trash The Dress craze which seems to have divided opinion quite strongly from the discussions I’ve had with brides and, more often, their mothers! Plenty of people see the whole affair as quite outrageous and wasteful, destroying a beautiful and, of course, expensive wedding dress just for the sake of some photos. I totally understand the argument and would never try to change somebody’s mind if that’s how they feel.

However… there is an equally valid second opinion which is becoming more and more popular…It all comes down to what happens to the dress after the wedding day. Does a bride put the dress away thinking maybe one day she’ll get it out and reminisce about her wedding day? Or maybe she thinks she could pass it on to her daughter in 30 years time (yeah right!)? Or does she plan to put the dress on eBay and make some of her money back? Trust me, dresses rarely sell on eBay for more than a tenth of what you paid for it. Some girls may think they could dye the dress and crop it to make a funky little evening dress. Most though, in my opinion, have no idea what to do with it and end up putting the dress somewhere to gather dust.

So, why “trash the dress”? In actual fact the whole Trash The Dress name is a little misleading. Around 80% of shoots under that banner result in the dress needing nothing more than a clean. Occasionally, of course, brides actually relish the chance to really TRASH the dress and get some unique and dynamic images in the process. Just look at Alt F’s site to see what I mean. A Trash The Dress session allows you time to get amazing photos of yourself in that gorgeous dress without the worry of wedding day time schedules. It allows you to use locations anywhere you choose rather than in or around the wedding venue. And if it rains, unlike the wedding day, you can reschedule the shoot or even use the rain as a dramatic element for the photos.

Like I say, I’d never try to convince a bride that she should have a Trash the Dress session if she’s not sure about the idea, but for some girls, I think it’s a shame not to!

Below you will see some great footage of one trash the dress photo shoot with http://rawphotodesign.com/blog/


Candice's Trash the Dress: Raw Photo Design Shoot from Paradigm Digital Video on Vimeo.