Call it trash-the-dress, anti-bride photography, rocking the frock; call it whatever you like- it’s still the coolest thing to happen to wedding photography since the digi-cam and candid shots first broke through age-old bridal barriers. Trashing the dress is all about trashing traditions, and leaving a beautiful, expensive gown to sit in the attic is one traditional many modern brides are reluctant to embrace.
Instead, they’re choosing to hop back in the tulle, and then into a lake a few days after the wedding. A professional photographer is hired to capture these edgy, unconventional, fashion-rag-worthy shots of them donning their finest and going their wildest. This can be a pretty striking juxtaposition, especially when that pearly white dress is in flames or set against a graffiti-laden backdrop.
That’s the thing about trash the dress, you can go extreme and truly trash your dress, or you can just take some awesome pictures in a funky, unexpected urban environment. Your dress my snag on a rock or drag in the dirt, but it’ll remain intact enough so you can pressure your daughter to wear it thirty years from now. For those going all out- we’re talking scissors, buckets of brightly colored paint, and a full-on ocean baptism- you may have to toss the dress afterwards, but the stunning, shocking photographs will last and last.
immortal beloved
If you still can’t wrap your head around the destruction, (gorgeous photos be damned) then consider this: trashing the dress also serves as a symbol for true, everlasting love. The guy you’ve just married is the one, the only one, the be-all end all. The wedding stuff was fun and completely lovely, but now that it’s over all you want is to be in a marriage with this one person, ‘til death do you part.
Another reason you may want to hop on the wrecking wagon is that, well, anti-bride photo shoots are really fun. Weddings tend to zip by, what with all the stress, sheer joy and adrenaline pulsating through your body. Trashing the dress gives you a chance to relax and be playful in your gorgeous gown; your husband by your side.
a few more dirty ideas
Take the photo shoot to a pretty, dirty natural setting like the ocean, (for that steamy, drugstore romance-novel look) the family country house, a cornfield, a lake, a swamp or a desert (with a dusty firebird in the background, naturally.)
Or, go metropolitan. Fun urban settings include train tracks, alleyways, bridges, run-down factories, park fountains and rooftops. Montreal photographer Danny Perin, Pacifica Productions, uses the cityscape to bring out the chic, unexpected edge and provocative prowess of every bonafide city bride. Check out the photos on this page to get a feel for how he juxtaposes the pretty and the rough- bringing out the personality and sass of the princess, and permeating softness and animated glamour into an otherwise hardboiled backdrop. Look for more ‘Beauty and the Barren’ photography at Danny’s website.
pacifica productions
Pacifica’s adage, “Inspired By You,” sums up their mission to achieve natural, candidly fun photographs teeming with wedding day jubilance and verve. Standard W-day highlights are met with professionalism and artistic restraint, and the moments betwixt the main features are never left in the dark; are always treated with equal passion.
Photographer Danny Perin, of the Montreal production company, specializes in a niche of wedding photography known as “trash the dress,” using the rough cityscape to bring out the chic, unexpected edge and prowess of every bonafide urban bride.