Article - Trashing the Dress

Interesting article on gown wrecking and photographers: <p><i>America may be in

the midst of full-on wedding mania, but a new craze for gown wrecking has tapped

into a rich vein of bride rage...</i><p>Full article can be found <a

href="http://www.salon.com/">here.</a> You have to wait click on the S logo in

the upper left to get past the ad.

I couldn't find the article, Jeff. But it really doesn't matter - this is just another trend that proves the fact that many people might be getting married when they ought to be spending a bit more time getting mature. But, I might be a bore... I don't even like the "tradition" of smashing wedding cake in each others faces. Yes, I REALLY AM a bore...

well, the ad is gone now......I just clicked on the article picture headline thing and went straight to the whole article. Actually I think it more shows the state of where marraige is with people these days. First marraige was sacred. Death to us part. then it became ok to have a divorce....or 2....or 3. To me, that sounds more like extended dating....except that lawyers and splitting the "profits" got involved.....which, now that I think about it, sounds more like a business deal than marraige.

 

So, now the whole present day farce of marraige starts off with the destruction of the wedding gown.........I guess on the first wedding anniversary, the rings get melted down.

 

don't get me wrong....I'm all for marraige between two people who can make it last, and genuinely try to make it work. But, how many people do you know that actually think that way? There seems to be that thought of, well if it don't work, I'll get divorced.

 

Why not just live together. That makes more sense for the way people actually conduct their marraiges these days.

 

but, back to photography.............hmmmmmmmm wedding dress trashing.........now there's a reason to get into the wedding photography business.........sounds like fun, actually.

Jessica Claire, Bob Davis, and Gary Fong are all participators in "trash the dress" as far as I know. So is "apetura". I think it's fabulous that these brides trust their photographers enough to do what they do. They will also NEVER forget that experience, which is what your wedding should be about . . . full of unforgettable memories.

 

I'm ALL for it!!! :o)

I am so so soooo excited! I have a Trash the Dress session coming up in August and another bride wants to do it after her wedding in October. She has red hair so I'm thinking the orange and yellow leaves will be gorgeous. Anyway, I 'm also doing a prom dress trashing next week. I'll post some photos up when I get them done. Brides love the idea. Why clean the darn dress and keep it in your closet?? It has nothing to do with being mature and everything to do with being fun, creative and living life!!

Oh whoops - I forgot to post the link to Mark Eric's website for trashing the dress.

<p/>

<a href= "http://www.trashthedress.com">Trash the Dress</a>

<p/>

<a href= "http://www.letsgettrashed.com">Let's Get Trashed</a> (for seniors and prom dresses)

a local Wedding photographer booked me for her wedding next year and "she" will be trashing the dress as well....Like Colleen i'm so excited...this is a very fun couple and what makes it even more exciting is that earlier in the day we will have spent some times capturing images with "live" lions! Oh yeah....nothing traditional about this one!! Gotta love it!

I do a lot of bridals and would love to do a session where we didn't have to be so CAREFUL! The mindset is interesting. Storing something so bulky for so long doesn't make a lot of sense. Her daughter will never wear it. She could sell it, but maybe being able to wear it one more time and enjoy some reckless abandon in it would be more fun, with more pictures of her wearing it. As long as she has beautiful pictures of herself in it, (clean and untattered) why not? I don't think I'd compare it to melting the rings or the sanctity of marriage.

 

Have fun, Colleen! Be sure to show us the results!

;o)

My problem with this (and I have to fess up that my Mum is a wedding designer/gownmaker) is that the photos are generally not good enough. It's not great art just coz the dress is wet y'know? These literally need to be pictures worth thousands and I don't think many of them are. OK, stone me now :-)

I agree with Nicola. I love the idea, but they'd want to be pretty stunning, artistic shots. I love the ones where not being careful with the dress really adds something amazing to the shots, but I have seen a number where it doesn't add anything and is more like a documentation of the bride ruining her dress. That would be totally valid if there was something liberating for that particular bride in the process, and you were documenting the ritual, but otherwise, yes - great idea, if it really adds to the photos and some art can be created, and give the bride something amazing to have in years to come instead of her dress. Which I do think is entirely possible, but I have seen some pretty kitsch looking ones (fine if that is what the bride wants). I do also wonder how long it will be before this will be a copy of a copy of a copy - but I guess that happens with all trends. So - please don't shoot me ; ) I do think this is interesting and can be gorgeous, but under the right circumstances - ie: right bride, right photographer, right approach (which I am sure Colleen's for example is - and she is a brilliant enough photographer to do something gorgeous with it).

PS: I guess the other situation where this would work, apart from great art, or ritual documentation, is with a really fun, carefree, maybe artistic couple - i'd still want to make sure it was worth it for them.

PPS: A less extreme version of this which I think works well in more cases and is great for photographers, is where the bride is happy to do a little bit of damage that probably be drycleanable - just not being so careful. Eg: Walking through the water or on the beach and the hem gets dirty or a bit wet. I wish I was a good enough photographer to be confidant to do the more extreme version justice - it would be fun.

Barry - just checked our your site - great photos, I am sure you will do a great job. Live Lions! Please post when you are done : )

well, I'm glad I'm not a bride, spending $1000-$3000 on a dress for a day and then destroying it.

 

hey everyone! let's have a 'trash the camera' event! just joking. but that's basically what it is in terms of cost!

I have shot a few weddings where everybody EXCEPT the bride jumped in a nearby lake. I've yet to meet anybody interested in trashing their wedding dress.

 

Later,

 

Paulsky

I like the "Let's Get Trashed" link Coleen provided. Sorry, I seem to know close to nothing about clothes, but I always believed getting soaked in water couldn't harm them severely. At least it did nothing serious to the stuff I own and wear. I like these goth style pictures a lot and well, if necessarry I'd buy a used gown on ebay to get them if I had a stunning modell.

 

Being male I don't know what keeping one's wedding dress especially in a mint shape might be good for. I just discovered that a random marriage proposal would really challenge my dieting skills, since my black suit doesn't fit as it used to.

 

Anyhow: If I tie memories to random artifacts I used in my past their condition doesn't matter much to me, I just keep them although they are damaged.

 

The cheapskate in me would be happy about finding a wife who'd consume her wedding dress later during appropriate occasions like goth parties or similar. I'd even pick up scuba diving and a Nikonos for a nice underwater session.

Here's my personal view on this. Like pictures, a wedding dress is memory and a reminder to me of my wedding day. Personally, I still love pulling out my dress once in a while and looking at it, trying it on sometimes. I was married 5 years ago in this dress, in this dress I made a promise to my husband to be true to him, to love and honor him, till death do us part, and my wedding dress is a lovely reminder to me of the promise I made to him. To be honest, my wedding pictures didn't turn out great, and the only thing I have from my wedding is the dress that serves me a far better reminder and memory then the pictures. I didn't spend thousands of dollars on it, I only paid $118 for the whole wedding attire, but I felt like a princess in it, and I don't want to ruin it. I know its not like pictures where I can show people, but I guess it?s a personal thing. I don't want to sell it, nor do I wish my daughter to wear it. It's mine and my memory. I guess I'm more traditional. However, I do agree with some post above, that if the bride wishes, and under the right circumstance, and to have artistic portraits that are done with beuatifully, then to some it might be nice to wear the dress again and do a trash the dress session. Some of the pictures I saw where a bit too much, having the lady bearly fit in her gown rolling around in mud, and it didn't show much of the dress nor the bride, it actaully made it look ugly, disturbing, and weird for a grown woman to be rolling around in med, and the pictures I viewed weren't great at all. Maybe that's what it is, not really trashing the dress, as much as getting another chance wear the wedding dress again in public. Personally I wouldn't do it.