“My heart was racing 1,000 miles an hour when I walked in the door. I was really nervous.”
Newlywed Lauren Jolly’s feelings echo those of nearly every bride. Standing in her lavish wedding gown, husband at her side, nerves are more than understandable. But how she conquered those jitters is what makes Jolly far from a run-of-the-mill bride. “We went ahead and ate corn, had cotton candy, rode the swings and went down the giant slide,” she explains. “Once everyone began clapping and yelling congrats, I kind of settled down.”
If you’re picturing Jolly holding a Pronto Pup instead of a bouquet of primroses, you’re on the right track. Three weeks after her Aug. 8, 2009, wedding, Jolly and husband Andrew—fully decked out in nuptial attire—hit the Minnesota State Fair. The purpose? A “trash the dress” photo shoot, which puts elegant brides in not-so-elegant settings for a collection of unique post-wedding pictures.
What "Trash the Dress" Means
“A lot of people assume that ‘trash the dress’ means utter annihilation of the dress, which you can do, but I stick to less gruesome stuff that normal people can handle,” explains Stephany Wieland of EyeSpy Photography, the photographer behind Jolly’s “trash the dress” shoot. Wieland’s portfolio reflects her affinity for the trend: fully outfitted brides are seen frolicking in the ocean, posing next to gas pumps and lying serenely in lush fields. But after months of searching for the ideal dress—not to mention paying a pretty penny—exactly who would do this to their ivory embroidered satin organza strapless draped bodice dream gown?
As it turns out, a lot of people. Since the concept took off nearly a decade ago, the idea of juxtaposing an ethereal bride in grungy settings for editorial-type photos has become a common request for photographers like Wieland. “It’s definitely not for everyone, but a lot of brides have an interest in breaking from the normal wedding photography,” explains Wieland.
In Jolly’s case, the idea began to take shape after she bought two wedding dresses at a sample sale in Minneapolis; once she’d decided to wear the satin dress with the asymmetrical train for her wedding, she was left with a beautiful strapless silk gown and nowhere to wear it. “I wanted to do something fun with the dress, and Wieland suggested the State Fair,” she explains. “It got to the point where I was almost more excited for the ‘trash the dress’ shoot than for the wedding!”
The day of the shoot Jolly and husband Andrew played in the Midway, chomped on mini donuts and were rewarded with an album of images that Jolly says sets the couple’s wedding album apart from the average cookie-cutter snaps. “When I saw them I was ecstatic; they are super-fun and completely different,” says Jolly. “They are cool and very unique, and shooting them at the Fair is really Minnesotan.”
Even brides who’ve had their dresses on the shelf for several years are approaching Wieland about dusting off their gowns for a day of dress-trashing. Jill Hofacker- Williams (left) walked down the aisle in 2006, but when Wieland described her vision of Hofacker-Williams lying in a pile of fall leaves, she was happy to break out her dress again. “I loved the idea of being playful and dirty while wearing something a bit formal,” says Hofacker-Williams. And the shoot has sparked an idea for the future: “My vision is to make it a five- or 10-year thing where we pull out the dress and suit to take similar shots and compare how we’ve changed as a couple,” she says. “I imagine a cool little flip-book of Craig and I while we age together … yes, I plan on fitting in my dress at age 55!”
Tepid Toward Trashing Your Wedding Gown?
Mention the dress-trashing phenomenon to Joy Teiken, the custom dressmaker behind Joynoelle in St. Paul, however, and you can almost hear the grimace. “My feeling is that if you find a dress you feel very special in and have a connection to, I can’t imagine you’d want to trash that dress!” she says. “It almost seems like you’re thumbing your nose at the whole idea of the wedding.”
While none of Teiken’s customers have embraced the phenomenon—“Or if they have, they haven’t told me!”—she understands the lure of interesting pictures, and wouldn’t try to talk a bride out of a potential trashing. Instead, Teiken says she’d recommend a second (cheaper!) dress meant specifically for the trashing photo shoot. Why double up on dresses? Because Teiken says the original dress should be treasured. “Usually women who have a dress made tend to think of it as an heirloom they want to save and preserve,” she explains.
But that doesn’t mean the dress has to be hermetically sealed, she adds. “I’ve had a number of brides tell me their goal is to wear their dress every year on their anniversary. You can keep it and wear it; not just permanently put it away.”
Somewhere between the Pronto Pup and museum-quality preservation is what photographer Shelley Paulson calls an “encore” photo session. Instead of taking brides and grooms away from their big day for a lengthy shoot while guests wait, Paulson proposes that couples dress up in their duds again after the wedding to get perfectly posed snaps. “It’s not so much about getting the dress trashed as it is about having photos taken when there isn’t a timeline and we’re not worrying about whether the dress gets a little dirty.”
Bride Alexys Eskola (right) jumped at the chance to have an encore photo session, and had the horse hoofprint on her train to prove it (before it hit the cleaners, that is). Twirling in a field and petting the aforementioned equine, Eskola’s pictures are relaxed and fun—which she credits to the ease of being post-wedding. “I definitely was not concerned with getting my dress dirty! I think it’s weird when brides are overly concerned about keeping their dress spotless, then right after the wedding, they vacuum-seal it, put it in a box and never take it out,” she explains. “Have fun with your dress! Wear it more than once. I have my dress hanging in my closet and I’m hoping to wear it again soon.”
Jolly is quick to agree that it’s time for the wedding dress to come down from its elevated status. “I don’t know how to convince girls to get over it. The dress gets pretty beat-up the night of the wedding, so why not take that one step further? You don’t have to jump in a lake or in the mud!”
Will your mother freak out? Yes—both Jolly and Hofacker-Williams dealt with maternal objections. Will the dress get dirty? Undoubtedly—which is what Eskola says dry-cleaners are for. But according to Wieland, it’s worth fighting through the dirt and objections to have photos that stand out. “It’s a chance to really have fun when you’re dressed to the nines, and afterwards you have some unique pictures that are really creative and reflect you as a couple.”