The Newest Wedding Trend: Wedding Dress Trashing?

It’s the newest and most extreme form of wedding photography: trash the dress photos. You’ve probably seen the viral photos and video of the bride setting her wedding dress on fire before running into the ocean after her beach wedding. This trend is not always about lighting the wedding dress on fire but it mostly centers around destroying the dress days or hours after the wedding ceremony. Examples include the bride and her groom jumping into the ocean, the mud, and every other messy situation you could imagine.

The “Trashing The Dress” video has gotten a lot of flack from fellow wedding photographers for taking the trash the wedding dress trend to dangerous levels. The wedding photographer from the now famous video and photos, Eric Simantov of White Studio Photography in Tel Aviv, explains that “All brides are looking for something that hasn’t been done before”, which how the idea of trash the wedding dress photos came around.

Our New York wedding photographers urge couples to take precaution if they plan to participate in this new wedding trend. A 30 year-old bride in Montreal drowned recently during her trash the wedding dress photo shoot. The wedding dress photos were taken by a 115 foot waterfall, the weight of her wedding dress dragged her down into the rushing water where she later died.

The creator of the trend, John Michael Cooper, a wedding photographer in Las Vegas, told the New York Times, “In fashion photography, they often put really pretty people in very ugly places…I’m applying that technique to weddings”. Now, websites like Pinterest and tumblr are overflowing with images and inspiration photos titled, “Trash The Wedding Dress Ideas”.

While this trend will certainly make your wedding day memorable, we can’t give this the green light unless we know the bride and groom will be safe. Your safety is far more important that your wedding photos! New York wedding photography is always memorable and exciting, even without setting the bride and her wedding dress on fire. We recommend fun and safe ideas like painting your wedding dress or having your photo taken in it while riding a rollercoaster like “The Cyclone” in Coney Island. Congratulations to all the couples planning their wedding and stay safe!