Wedding Path NewsWire
Why trash the dress? 10687 views
Why trash the dress? Every bride has her own reasons! Many of those who embrace this increasingly popular trend are creatives who know that the real commitment made to their partners is in their hearts and souls. The material trappings associated with the process of getting married, such as a wedding dress stored in moth balls, do not embody this commitment.
These brides appreciate the fun and irony of the trashing of their 'precious' dresses - especially if they can have the whole process captured in beautiful images.
There is another motivation
For some free spirits the wedding gown represents a restrictive experience of wearing it on her special day. There is a tendency to romanticise the image of a bride in a white dress, but it can actually be quite stressful. I saw one bride in a state of panic when she discovered the tiniest of dust specks on her dress. It was almost invisible but three bridesmaids were rallied to remove it.
Sometimes girls are reluctant to sit down to get photos taken for fear of the dress getting creased. In fact, it will get creased when they get into the car - and, if they're really unlucky, it might also catch the car wheel on arrival and smudge. There might also be dust stains from walking up and down the aisle. On a hot summer's day, their voluminous synthetic polyester underskirts can become really uncomfortable. A strapless dress may drift down and the bride then has to hike it up all day. Finally, the bride's mother might forget how to bustle the long train during the reception.
Many brides really enjoy putting their worries aside to finally be able to wear the dress and be free to do whatever they like in it, be themselves and finally have fun with it.
How does it work in practical terms?
The 'trash the dress' set-up is always a consultative and collaborative process between a photographer and a bride (as well as the groom, if he wants to participate). We come up with a setting and props together. My aim is to create a positive and light-hearted environment in which all of us have fun. Throughout the session I suggest certain scenarios and direct the bride. She often comes up with her own ideas also.
There is never any pressure for the dress to actually be 'trashed'. The session begins as a radical bridal shoot. We go to an interesting location not typically associated with weddings and beauty, and just play around. The bride can stop at any point, or go on and 'trash the dress' - it's her choice!
A case in point
Yvonne, an award-winning jewellery designer, chose a derelict barn - overgrown with weeds and complete with broken windows - as her 'trash the dress' location. I wanted to show the contrast between the crumbling bricks of the barn and her pristine wedding dress. I then introduced the welly boots she had brought with her, plus elements of movement by playing with frilly netting. It was such fun! You can see pure joy and a sense of freedom in her face and body language. Then Yvonne rode a farm trailer driven by her husband John and went into the cow enclosure in her dress.
We could have stopped at that point but she really wanted to trash her dress and so we drove to a shallow stream nearby, splashed in the water and generally had good time. I was hopping with bare feet in cold water to get better angles. Although Yvonne's welly boots started leaking, she didn't mind! The sun was setting and the dress was floating in the stream - it was very, very beautiful and aesthetically satisfying. Well, you can judge for yourself.
The funny thing is that the 'precious' wedding dress most brides are so stressed about on their wedding day is often almost indestructible. Yvonne emailed me the next day to tell me how much fun she had had, and that she had washed the dress with a garden hose and it was as good as new (sort of!) - ready to be trashed again if necessary!
Of course, the best part of a 'trash the dress' shoot is the resulting images. Unstuffy, unconventional and unique to the bride in question, they are a lasting memento of a liberating experience, and can be bound in a beautiful designer album, or displayed as a canvas wrap or gallery-framed print.
Galina Walls is a forward-thinking photographer based in Norwich. The WeddingPath team look forward to seeing the results of her future dress-trashing sessions!
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