Trash the Dress – A Fantasy Beyond the Wedding

All images copyright 2010 to Ara Roselani

When I first heard about “Trash the Dress” as a photography concept, I immediately thought, “I would never get my $500/$5,000/$500,000+ dress dirty! Are you kidding?” A bit later, it circled around in my brain as I set out for a hike above one of my favorite waterfalls in the Columbia River Gorge. Wouldn’t it be cool if a bride stood facing the waterfall with her veil streaming out behind her? That’s stuff of fairy tales, right? I’m all about fairy tales.

It took a few months, but I found someone willing to do it. We got Sarah’s hair done at Pigment Salon and took a few shots around Portland before heading out to the Gorge. It was chilly and a bit rainy, so we had Horsetail Falls all to ourselves. The waterfall pounded with fresh snowmelt, sending billowing mist in waves of electricity through the air. Sarah and I laughed and laughed as we let her veil go–the blast from the waterfall blew it in flying wings out behind her. She looked like a princess. A few shutter snaps later, we piled back in the car with the heat on full. We were both incredibly happy–Sarah had the time of her life in a dress that would otherwise be in a box in a closet, and I had a mental vision come to life. Now her mom wants a large print for the living room.

After I’d pulled the pictures up and found the favorite, something really profound occurred to me. The idea of having an amazing portrait session in this beautiful dress you fell in love with and got married in, in a setting that’s really meaningful to you, providing closure to that time in your life. How many of us stuff our amazing dresses in a box in our closet/attic/basement and only bring them out once in awhile as a memory? Why not create photographic memories with this dress that last just as long, and maybe give us a chance to have fun in it instead of worrying what will get spilled on it?

Theresa wanted to give this a try with her dress after I showed her Sarah’s waterfall adventure. Her wedding was several years ago, and she was ready to take the dress back out of the closet. Why not on the back of her beautiful horse?

I now have a gentler view of “Trash the Dress”–instead of spilling paint on a dress, taking scissors to it, or tearing it to bits for the sake of art, I offer something potentially more meaningful: do what you love, where you just happen to be wearing your wedding dress. Maybe we shouldn’t even call it “Trash the Dress” with its negative connotations of destruction–maybe we could “reimagine” or “reinvent” the dress instead (I’ve also heard it called “Cherish the Dress”). Oh, and (hopefully) obviously, if you want to save the dress for your daughter or simply have no desire to get the dress of your dreams dirty, I would never push this option.

So, my lovely brides, what adventures can you, your dress and a camera share past your wedding day?

Larger versions of these photos are also in my portfolio.