Trash the Dress session or Bridals, are MY FAVORITE types of sessions!
During wedding days sometimes the timeline gets shifted and some things are shortened, such as the bridal photos! Trash the Dress (Bridals) are a bullet proof back-up plan for that!
Most times, wedding days ultimately get the job done (even if a little late and not as perfectly as the timeline suggests)! Bridals are completed, nothing is sacrificed and everything goes well! BUT, even when this is the case, I freaking love trash the dress sessions.
What is a Trash the Dress Session aka Bridals?
It's a photoshoot that lasts about 2-3hrs. During this shoot, you wear your wedding clothes with the intention of no longer caring about dirtying your dress! The wedding day has passed, and you don't want to clean your dress right after, or even at all. So, you want to get your money's worth from it and wear it again! And, well, trash it (maybe not totally though).
A trash the dress session gives you the time and space to run around in your wedding clothes and enjoy your time together without an ounce of stress. It's a way to think back on your wedding day, in a location you love (literally ANYWHERE you want to go), for a few hours. I happen to also tag along and take some bridal photos of you two. Think of it as a prolonged wedding session, without worrying about dirtying the dress, because you actually want it to get a little dirty!
When is a Trash the Dress Session typically done?
Well, this depends entirely on you!! Some people do it a week or a month after their wedding day! That's what my couple Brenda and Edward did, click here to see their Trash the Dress/Adventure Bridal! Brenda booked it a few months before her wedding day, and set the date for a week after the big day. She had already booked a wedding photographer but wanted me to photograph them too and saw this session as the perfect opportunity to do so!
But, some couples wait for their anniversary! That's the case in this Trash the Dress Session. Allison and Angel were celebrating their 3 years when we did our shoot! I already knew Allison and Angel from mutual friends. When Allison first brought up the idea to me when I was photographing Angel's work team, I was so dang excited and couldn't wait for their anniversary to come!!
In October, I'm photographing bridals for a couple 3 months before their wedding day! I will be their wedding photographer as well, and their intention is to elongate their time together and to have more photos of bridals. They're doing a first look during their bridals and then again on their wedding day!
There isn't a wrong way to do this.
Where can bridals be done?
WE CAN GO ANYWHERE!! That's the beauty! No matter where your wedding day was, this session can be in a completely different location, city, space, etc. Allison and Angel wanted to do Los Angeles and the beach! So, Alli wore a stunning red dress for the first half of our shoot where we went to the Grand Central Market, Angel's Flight and some other places in LA. We also ate the best Chinese Food I've ever had in GCM, AND it was my first time there, it was amazing! I love these two humans so much.
After exploring LA for a bit, they changed into their wedding clothes and we went to the coast to Palos Verdes to catch the last bit of sunlight the day had to offer! That is where this photographic story of a blog begins.
The Experience
Alli and I talked about this session for a bit before we actually did the shoot. And we entertained the idea about writing love letters to each other and reading them for the first time in front of the camera, she loved it! I knew that little bit of extra thing was going to add to their experience and I was so excited to capture that!!
Fun fact, as we walked to our reading-love-letters-location, Alli joked and said that when she walked down the aisle three years prior, Angel did not cry. And when they read their vows to each other then, he also didn't cry. Angel defended himself by saying he was incredibly nervous because there were too many people. He was focusing on not messing up. Hey, that makes total sense! BUT GUESS WHAT?! While Alli read her love letter during our session, Angel cried! And while he read his love letter to Alli, she cried. And I teared up too.
The Magic
There's something very magical about experiencing moments like these alone, in an intimate space, in front of an ocean or a view of the mountains, or wherever your heart desires. These sweet and special moments can sometimes become too overwhelming when there is an audience. I was so happy they got to have that, and that I was able to photograph it for them!!
Please enjoy these sweet human beings and their love for each other in this blog. I am so dang honored and grateful to know and to be hired by people like Angel and Alli.
If you're interested in creating a worthwhile anniversary session with me as your eyes in the future, click here!
