Where’s Wendy? Trashing the Dress!

© Spellbound Images by Wendy

In the process of moving my things from one place to the next I came across the wedding gown that I picked up at a local thrift store a couple years ago, in hopes that I would find a willing victim (model) to wear the darn thing. It was very cheap, no rips, or stains. In fact when I purchased it, I did so with the hopes that I would find someone to trash it! I threw it in the washer with some bleach, popped it in the dryer for a bit, then hung it and fluffed it while it finished drying. On Monday I talked my daughter Holli into putting it on for a few shots. Actually I’ve been trying to get her into it for a couple years, but she was reluctant because lets face it… she’s not the “Southern Bell” kind of person. However, she is a good model, and loves her mother, so she accommodated the photographer. Since we didn’t get dirty, or greasy, or wet, we will call this “The Almost Trashed the Dress Session!”

I’ve been yearning to do a “Trash the Dress” session for quite some time. Not only because I want to add the images to my portfolio, but also because I knew it would be great fun! The problem with this is… most brides pay a lot of moolah for a dress that they will only wear once in their lifetime, and then it will be cleaned, stuffed in a box, and put away in a closet, or a storage chest, or the attic, for many years. Chances are no one else will wear that dress because we don’t live in the days when grandmothers passed down their dress to daughters, and in turn that daughter passed it to her daughter and so on. Lets face it, we live in the days where every new bride wants her own dress… something fresh, something new, something stylish. So when a bride goes out and spends 2K or more on her gown…. She’s not likely to want to get it dirty.

You know all those sexy, grungy, photo’s you see of the bride in her wedding gown? Those aren’t the kind of photo’s you’re likely to capture at any normal wedding day shoot. First there is the expense factor that I spoke about above, and second the beautiful bride has to stay that way for pretty much the rest of the day. She has to at least make it through the reception where she will gather with her guests. I’m sure she doesn’t want to do that after getting sandy, greasy, or even wet! So here’s my suggestion to any bride who would love to do a “Trash the Dress” session… go to the thrift store, or yard sale, and find a dress similar to the one you wore or are going to wear on your wedding day. I really don’t think anyone will notice the difference any way, once they see the amazing photographs! Pay a small price, and enjoy yourself! Call me… we’ll both enjoy ourselves!

As you can see during this session we didn’t really trash the dress. When we finished, although Holli did roll around on the ground a bit (in the grass and leaves), the dress is still waiting to be TRASHED! I do have another model willing to destroy it for me, so stay tuned… those will be coming in the near future!

So to all you brides out there who are looking for those special, sexy, grungy, off-the-wall photo’s, you now know how to get them without trashing your own dress! Oh… bring your hubby along… we’ll trash him too! :)

Love, Laughs, and Photographs,
Wendy