If you’re in the wedding industry you would have probably heard the phrase Trash The Dress. This new craze, which started in the US, is quickly catching in the UK and it is bound to make an impact on today’s wedding photography!
What is Trash The Dress?
Trash The Dress is a post wedding photo shoot with the aim of creating stunning, unusual and creative photos. The official blog at www.trashthedress.com describes it like this:
Trash it. Get it dirty. Get it wet. Roll around in the mud. Drench it in the ocean. Totally trash it.
Why? … Why not? You’ve made a commitment to your husband. He’s your one and only true love, right? Then you’ll never need the dress again. And no, your daughter won’t wear it in 20-30 years.
The best way to know what Trash The Dress is all about? See some photographs. Below are some of my favourites taken from the Trash The Dress Europe website. (click on each image to see full size)
Are you a UK Trash The Dress Photographer?
If you offer Trash The Dress photography and are based in the UK, leave a comment at the bottom of this post or even get in touch. Send me some pics and I’ll post them on this blog. It would be great to see some cool Trash The Dress photographs from Britain and show the US that we can do it too!
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46 comments ↓
I love the Trash The Dress concept and I’m really truly hoping that this will be the year I’ll be able to do some, none of my clients have been brave enough yet but I’m holding out hope for this wedding season!
Hi Mandy,
Good luck, I hope there are some brave Brides in the North East willing to take you on!
Maybe if you showed your clients some of the amazing examples out on the web, they may be persuaded? Just a thought.
Christian
Hi Christian,
I’ve just noticed one of my Trash the Dress image on the blog and I just wanted to let you know that you just made my day!
If any of you brides and groom are up for some fun don’t hesitate to contact me to book your TTD session!
Best wishes to you all.
Pascale
Only just noticed this post, Christian! The most creative Trash the Dress Image I have ever seen was published during a seminar I attended so I don’t hve a copy to show you. It was of the bride with her arms outstretched and her dress hal on fire! Yes with real orange flames climbing into the air to the side and above her! The photographer created this image out of two shots: the first was with the bride wearing the dress – but the second one with the flames, was with the dress on a plastic dummy…. Just amazing! There were also some fascinating shots of another bride floating in the water of a river or lake, looking like a Dante Gabriel Rossetti painting, with her hair floating around her, as if dead….
Ooops = the typo that says “hal” should read “half”… sorry!
Wow, that image sounds exciting! That really is taking trash the dress to the extreme!
Elaine – that image was the very famous image created by John Michael Cooper of Alt-F – the man who can have single handedly claim to have created ‘Trash the Dress’.
I think the trash-the-dress is a great concept and chance to take some creative photos of the newly weds without the stress of the day.
We offer trash-the-dress and look forward to more couples taking the plunge.
You can see a couple of my photos from one session at: http://www.patb-photography.co.uk/trash-the-dress/
Well, the first two pics you’ve posted are mine so it’s nice to know you like them. I since done another TTD style shoot in Brighton –
http://henryaarvoldphotography.blogspot.com/2008/10/trash-dress-shoot-amy-stuart.html
I different feel to the one above but still good fun.
Cheers
Henry
Great work Henry.
My particular favourite is this one:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Ll56M2T7yV4/SP8G7bajE1I/AAAAAAAABpI/xeo0RFsEHjA/s1600-h/199.jpg
Some great work above, I’ve only had the opportunity to do one TTD shoot so far, some pics on the link below:
http://trashthedress.eu/2008/12/03/kjp-images-uk/
Hi Kris,
Thanks for your comment.
Love the photo in front of the Lifeguard tower.
Good work
Some fantastic images there. Started some TTD myself, but nowhere near as good as those!
Christian Thank you! I just noticed you have linked to one of my photos. If any readers fancy a session just get in touch. I love doing these as they are so much fun.
Margaret
Just started to get on the band wagon with the “Trash the Dress” concept. So much so that I got my wife to dig out her dress from the loft and off we went in search of some good locations to shoot my wife lol. http://www.markburton.biz/trash/
I think its a fantastic idea which does not have to stop at Wedding Dresses, what about Prom Dresses and Ball Gowns etc?
Hi Mark,
I agree, Ball Gowns and Prom Dresses would also work well.
Some great locations for your shoot by the way.
Hi guys I’m not a photographer but love the trash the dress concept and I am getting married in Dorset but instead of the boring old wedding shots want to book a trash the dress shoot! Are any of you in the local area?
Lucy
Hi Lucy,
You could try Greg Thurtle, I know he does trash the dress shoots:
http://www.thurtlepower.com
Any one else want to help Lucy out?
Hi Lucy,
I am based in Surrey but I cover most of south England if that is any help to you. I do an “All – In” package rather than packages with a set number of prints. Please take a look at my website and drop me an email if you are interested.
Mark
Thanks Christian – i’ve got something on my blog here:
http://www.thurtlepower.com/blog/trashthedresshampshiredorset
I’ve got my first trash the dress shoot coming up on the 1st August. Thanks for the inspiration, I’ll be putting the shots up on my website as soon as they are processed, and also send you some to post.
Thanks
Ian
Thanks Ian,
Good luck! Let me know how it goes.
I had a great trash the Dress session in November 2008 with MDO Studio who run the site http://www.trash-the-dress.co.uk
I LOVE my photos – so does my hubby who came along on the day but didn’t actually take part. My only comment to those who want to try it with their own dress is take GREAT care in choosing who your photographer is, as I know a good friend whose dress was RUINED by the photographer who promised not to let it be really spoiled on the day.
I understand that there are a lot of photographers out there who are jumping on the bandwagon with little concern to the well- being of the dress being photographed!
We did our first TTD shoot in October 2007 and since then have done something over 30 shoots in various places. Since April 2008 we’ve also been running TTD workshops for both pros’ and amateur photographers. (See the site if you might be interested)
Of course one of the biggest problems we have is ensuring that the dress is ‘trashed’ no more than the owner wants to happen…. This is where the experience comes in I guess…
Chris – you make a good point – often the bride doesn’t want the dress trashed at all – in fact quite the opposite – sometimes it’s just a great excuse to get dressed up again and feel like a princess and get some amazing images of her in the dress with the man she loves
Been out and about looking for some good TTD locations…. its amazing what you can find if you look hard. 2 old tractors, a rusty Landrover, an old caravan, a derelict house, a Lorry ! (not shot that yet) but if you look… you can find tons of great locations. See the latest shots of my wife on my website and feel free to leave a comment!
Oh yeah… here is a link to help find the photos…
http://www.markburton.phanfare.com/slideshow.aspx?s=0&username=markburton&a_id=4190886&s_id=4565022
I’m a reasonably newly married, and looking for a TTD photographer in the Yorkshire/North East area. I have a beautiful wedding dress just waiting to be worn again in a forest, beach or field location – would there be space for a scruffy dog to come along?! My wedding day photographer didn’t get many pictures of my dress, so figuring this would be a great opportunity! Does anyone know of any reasonabley priced photographers in the area? Have found some great photographers down south but would be lovely to be photographed at somewhere meaningful to my husband and I.
Hayley,
We offer a Trash The Dress service, if you’re interested? We’re based in Shotton which is inbetween Hartlepool and Sunderland. We are reasonably priced and also work around your needs and requirements.
Our web site is http://www.kt-photo.co.uk which is currently under construction and there’s also http://www.facebook.com/ktphotography if you want to have a look on there too, as the images on the web site have a bit of them hidden which is currently being sorted, due to a new layout/menu structure.
Hi Hayley,
Give me a call on 07941 707625 or email iannos@ntlworld.com website http://www.napierphotography.co.uk. I’m based in West Yorkshire, reasonably priced and would love to do your TTD shoot for you. See the website for latest TTD shoot with Kerry and Zoe. We had a great day!!
Thanks
Ian
Any photographers near Leeds want to do a freebe TTD shoot for a bride for website/portfolio photos?
Hi there
I offer TTD sessions. Please visit my website http://www.knstudio.co.uk
I am based in Warrington, Cheshire.
Just done a Trash the Dress shoot with Sarah from London… thanks to this blog. We had a very early start, the weather held up for us and we had great fun. Thanks Sarah…. you are a good sport! see the shots at http://markburton.phanfare.com/slideshow.aspx?s=0&username=markburton&a_id=4308881&s_id=4704138
Wow, great shoot Mark and well done Sarah, good job!
The location is stunning.
Hi. We specialise in Trash the Dress photography now, and have found the uptake to be pretty good. No-one has actually “trashed” it yet, but we have covered Nuclear Bunkers, Car Washes, Industrial Estate, Undground Car park to name a few very cool locations.
Specific page http://www.cm-photos.co.uk/blog/services/trash-the-dress/
Lovely photos Craig. I will be updating this post shortly with all the new stuff you guys have done.
I’ve just completed my first shoot and have to say, what fun! A few pictures are on the website
http://www.warrenphotos.co.uk/Trash_The_Dress
Just need to find some more willing brides.
We have completed another Trash The Dress shoot the other day, if anyone wants to have a look at the latest blog entry with a handful of them on:
http://ktphoto.blogsome.com/2009/09/15/carrie-anns-trash-the-dress-12th-september-2009
There’s more on our web site too.
A bit difficult to see the photos under those HUGE copyright notices! I can’t see the point of going so way OTT as if someone REALLY wants to use them, then they will probably look upon it as a challenge to remove them…
It’s either a small one which I don’t see the point in, as some one can remove it easily, or cover the image. Opted for the large one.
There’s some images on the web site minus the copyright though.
I must admit, it looks like a great copyright logo with an image behind it. What are you selling, the images or the logo?
“Downsize” do a good Copyright/Watermark program which you can choose the size you want, opacity and placement, small-all the way up to super large and does not take the image out of the image (if you see what I mean).
[...] at the Trash The Dress post, there was some discussion over using watermarks on photos so I thought I would give my opinion and [...]
Hi guys,
Interesting debate but I’d like to keep the comments related to Trash The Dress if possible.
I have written a post on watermarking over here:
http://www.easyweddingsearch.com/pro/watermarking-wedding-photos/
You can continue the discussion there.
Thanks,
Christian
UK Photographers, You can put a free Trash the Dress listing with a banner on
http://www.websitetoolbox.com/cgi/view/topsites.cgi?topsite=trashthedress
..and Christian… would you like to list this site too?
Hi, I’ve done a few ‘Trash the dress’ shoots. They’re great fun and prduce some amazingly different images. A couple of examples are below
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3120/2914093147_f2cc08e7b4_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3123/2914093269_d484b334e6_o.jpg
Hope you like them
Mike
Hey Mike,
Lovely shots, thanks for sharing!!
Christian
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