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!
I’ve had researchers from ITV’s “This Morning” show asking if any of my brides would be up for doing their Trash The Dress session on TV, and today Radio WM called asking if they could feature one on the station (not sure how they want to do that on radio but still…).
If you fancy really getting the most out of your wedding dress and having plenty of fun in the process, please give me a call to chat about ideas. Feel free to leave any comments in this post if you have any thoughts on the whole Trash The Dress idea.
