It may sound ridiculous but growing numbers of women are doing just that. They are part of the trash the dress trend, where women hire a photographer to take beautiful, dramatic pictures of them essentially ruining their wedding dress shortly after the ceremony.
According to the New York Times, the trend started in 2005 when Las Vegas photographer John Michael Cooper began photographing his clients in extreme conditions. Apparently Cooper was inspired by fashion photography which long ago learned the merits of juxtaposing beautiful, couture garments with ugly, grungy or dirty settings. Cooper was bored by the same, cookie-cutter photos that every bride requests.
Why do the brides want it? Good question. Many superstitious people think that destroying your wedding dress is bad way to start a marriage. Maybe that’s why precisely why the modern bride chooses to trash the dress- it’s her little form of rebellion. Or maybe the bride really just wants gorgeous, dramatic photographs of herself which wouldn’t be out of place in the pages of W. Another option is that brides don’t like the idea of their dream dress sitting in their closet gathering dust.
What do you think? Would you ever trash the dress? Remember you would be paying your photographer extra for the photo shoot.
I am working on an in-depth reported piece on this trend, so any brides who are willing to be interviewed for the piece, please contact me at SJL446(at)nyu(dot)edu
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