I’m sure many of you have picked up on the trend that is Trash the Dress - it seems to have been getting quite a bit of press coverage at the moment with several photographers across the UK offering it as an additional service to their wedding clients. The concept comes from America and is basically about being allowed to let yourself go in your wedding dress after the formalities of the big day. I do personally feel that there’s nothing wrong with that and in fact did a shoot for a fab wedding venue near Leeds (Weddings and Wellies) where a couple enjoyed dressing up in their full kit for a shoot on the farm! I know that our model bride really loved the opportunity to put on her dress again but apart from a tiny mud stain, the dress was be totally set and ready for someone else to enjoy in the future after a quick clean.

The big concern from a green perspective is how far you take things - there have been shoots where girls have layed around Ophelia style in streams, rolled around in mud, had food fights and I’ve heard rumour of dresses been set alight (bride not still in the dress I hasten to add!). One of the biggest green issues with your dress has to be a consideration of both where it came from but then also what happens to it after the big day. The trend for buying second hand dresses is becoming more and more popular particularly when a donation to a charity such as Oxfam has the double benefit of raising some cash for a good cause but also that lovely feeling of being able to pass on a bit of happiness to another lovely bride to be. Purposefully destroying a dress for the kicks just isn’t green savvy.

I’d love to hear some of your opinions on the issue - do you think this is something that would ever catch on seriously in the UK or is just another hyped up marketing ploy? I’m always happy to offer a post-wedding shoot for newly weds - this can be for various reasons such as they got married abroad or they were let down by their actual photographer (always hate hearing about those ones!) but would never encourage or market a trash the dress service…. Be warned … The danger is if this American trend is let through the door then it gives scope for another big trend to infiltrate- the removal of the brides garter in full public view by the groom’s teeth- eek!