Lynn Michelle Blog

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.