Lynn Michelle Blog

I was interviewed for Tami Winn’s blog about Trash the Dress sessions and Day After portraits along with the wonderful Kevin Jairaj. You can check out the whole article here.

“On the other side of the lens, if you will, are those couples who have had a terrible experience with their original photographer. Lynn Michelle of Lynn Michelle Photography says that many of her clients come in devastated over their wedding day photos. ‘Some photographers are just not qualified or do not have enough experience to create and stick to a successful schedule or timeline. Their clients come to me hoping to make up for the lack of quality photos they had on their wedding day,’ says Michelle. ‘I end up re-doing a lot of traditional, candid shots that please mom and dad, and then I can get creative!’”

Note from me: I’ve been getting more and more requests to redo wedding day portraits than ever before. It breaks my heart that these couples are absolutely devastated by their wedding images and I wish I had a big happy face band aid so I could fix it all in one swoop.

“Both photographers like to take into account the couple’s interests and format the shoot around them. Michelle had a couple that was extremely into art- Eric gave Julie a painting for her wedding present. So it only seemed fitting to do their day after shoots at a paintball range. They brought out paints and got to finger paint each other- and even threw paint grenades to get massive spots of color. ‘I had so much fun at that shoot and got some great moments between Julie and Eric. But I wouldn’t recommend throwing paint grenades around photography equipment. It’s been two years and I still have the evidence on some of my cameras!’” says Michelle.

Note from me: This quote had me laughing my pants off. Did I really say that? Yes, I did. Because. I. Still. Have. Blue. Paint. On. Over. Half. Of. My. Equipment. And I still giggle hysterically whenever I catch a glimpse of it and I remember what a bad idea it was to use a paint grenade on national television.

Want to see me on Today Show again? Of course you do!

Just in case you missed it … and how could you? (I’ve only mentioned it 6,131,345.25 times!!) Here are some of my Trash The Dress images from thetodayshow.com website:

The last one is me on a jetski. I guess I should mention that I would never have a bride do something that I wouldn’t do myself. Trash my wedding dress? Yes, please

Where were we? Just at the super fun DFW Adventure Park in Roanoke, where they accommodated our crazy painting & ATV mudding needs.

I also wanted to send some artistic love to John Michael Cooper of AltF for an AWESOME segment. JMC loves to push artistic boundaries and just rocks at being himself.

Alright, enough talking  … check out the whole  TTD segment here! And the transcript below …

“TRASH THE DRESS” BRIDES GET DOWN & DIRTY IN THEIR WEDDING GOWNS .

Oct. 6: Brides trash their wedding gowns after their big day for some unusual photo shoots. TODAY’s Meredith Vieira reports.

Women donning their wedding gowns after the big day for a very unusual photo shot and we tagged along to find out why.

It’s a day many woman have dreamed of : walking down the aisle in their beautiful white wedding gown.  But what happens to that dress after the ‘I dos’?

“My goal today is to get as muddy as possible” says bride Shannon Jones.

It’s called Trash the Dress. One bride’s trash is a photographer’s treasure.

“The whole idea behind Trashing the Dress is coming up with a more creative way to express yourself. A way that you couldn’t do on your wedding day,” says photographer Lynn Michelle (Renken).

“I say bring it on. I hope I get to drive – I don’t want to ride in the back,” says bride Mandy Rausch.

At DFW Adventure Park in Texas, four friends get revved up to go four wheeling. Yes, you guessed it: in their wedding gowns.

“I think any excuse to wear it again and to go roll around in some mud and to have a great time is a good one” says Jones.

Photographer Lynn [Michelle] Renken has been capturing these Trash the Dress memories for the past three years. “I try to really tailor the Trash the Dress sessions to the girl in particular or to the couple in particular” she says.

“Some people don’t necessarily like it, they think it’s destroying something that’s sacred. But for me, doing something artistic and creative with my dress is much more me and much more us as a couple than keeping it up in the closet somewhere” says bride Julie McConnell.

Julie’s husband Eric McConnell adds, “Absolutely amazing. It was fun – and look at her – she’s beautiful.”

“It’s not just to go out there and do something destructive but to more go and create some art”. Photographer John Michael Cooper is credited with starting this trend. “People always picture the bride this untouchable, pure thing that should be totally protected from the elements – wind, water, whatever,” he says.

Not anymore. Shana Dahan dug her wedding dress out of the closet for this shoot in the Las Vegas dessert.

“My father and my mother kept asking me, you know, are you sure? Weddings are so formal and traditional so to get an opportunity to come out here and just mess around and feel goofy and get all of your aggressions out – it’s kind of exciting. It’s kind of exhilarating, I guess.”

And Jessica and Samuel Goulet say they are taking their vows seriously. “To me, we are kind of symbolizing here the phrase that seems to have been kind of forgotten in marriages these days ’til death do us part’. So we are pretty much sitting in a shallow grave” says Jessica.

A dress that is sure to be remembered.