Burn the Dress - Trash the Dress - Minerva & Nabil

Let's be clear:  most dress trashing sessions can be fixed by a simple trip to a dry cleaner.  Minerva wanted nothing but ashes left of her wedding dress. Nabil, Minerva's husband showed us his fire breathing skills and while she used a fire whip to bring the end to her wedding dress.

In case you haven't noticed - we give our couples more creative options when choosing their wedding photography location, trash the dress ideas and engagement.


Let's review this day's event...in reverse.  Below you'll read Minerva's account of the dress burning.


In Minerva's own words:


Trash the Dress, Fearless Bridal, Rock the Frock, whatever you want to call it is fine. It’s the trend of brides taking their wedding dress, either directly after the wedding or sometime after and having a photo shoot done that is a bit away from the norm. Most brides do not destroy their dress, they wear them in the water or roll around in the dirt and can still have their dress tucked away in a box. This was not how we did it.

Why I considered a Trash the Dress photo shoot
 I really wanted more photos of us. We didn’t have enough from the wedding of just us and this would provide a bit more relaxed atmosphere for a shoot. And fun!

Type of Shoot to do
I really went into this pretty open, saying ok, I’m willing to roll around or jump in water, even toss some paint on my dress, the preservation of my dress was really not a thought in the beginning since there was still always something left of the dress.
Then came the husbands’ input…So I ask him, ‘Honey can we do a Trash the dress shoot for more photos?‘

His response, ‘I guess we could, does this mean we get to set your dress on fire?!‘

Did my heart drop? Yes. Did I get a lump in my throat? Yes. But after the initial emotional wave started to calm down and after my ‘BURN MY DRESS?!‘, I told him I’d think about it. And I did.

What I came back with was an idea that was over the top and that I would need to be the one destroying my dress – I couldn’t stand by and idly watch someone else do it. At first I wanted a flame thrower, and to go all Kill Bill style, but since I could not get my hands on one, I tried to think of something different that would translate well on film.

Choose your weapon….I chose the fire whip. I have never used a whip in my life, let alone a fire whip. I reached out to a friend of a friend and he taught me the basics of using a whip. Thank you George! Since time was running out, and my life is insane, I only got 2 lessons with him. George is a great instructor and there is not way I could’ve ever done this part of the shoot without his help.

The Shoot! Well, the shoot was fantastic! It couldn’t of gone better. A friend of mine was able to drive to Philadelphia with us at the last minute and help us with the changing of clothes, hair, makeup, and fire safety. Huge thank you Deb!

In Philadelphia, we met up with Mike, changed into the wedding gown and suit and did some run of the mill Trash the Dress photos in an abandoned lot while there was still some daylight left. From there we drove over to [an old abandoned building overlooking the river. We quickly did some shots with me in the dress, and Nabil fire breathing and as the day quickly turned into night, we changed once again. I wore a corset and went for a bit of a darker look as the boys hung my dress up. It took a couple of strikes and after applying some fuel to the dress the dress started to burn.

Hungry? We roasted marshmallows on my wedding dress!

I love the tattoo in this photo

Who me?  Burn my dress?  Why YES!

How did you feel about the session?
 I felt fine! I had so much fun, and the sneak preview shots have me anxiously waiting for the rest. Did I have to answer some questions from friends and family? Yes. But here’s how I look at it, I can a) put it in a box, look at the box forever….I see nothing gained here, b) save it for my daughter – as I told her, if she likes my dress, she can get the same style or cut, but I want her to have HER dress for HER wedding, not feel that she should wear mine to make me happy or c) sell it – now ok, who can’t use some money? But I wanted photos and frankly, I don’t want some other chick wearing MY dress. So that’s it, it’s done and it’s gone, you can agree or disagree but I have photos that I will look at forever, while others have a dusty old box.

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Contact us:
If you are interested in booking Allebach Photography for your Philadelphia wedding, Philly Trash the Dress or New Jersey engagement photo session please use our contact form at http://www.allebachphotography.com/contact.html


Photographer's notes:
All photos (except for shoes photo) were taken with the new Nikon 85mm 1.4 afs lens. Some photos used off camera lighting (nikon sb900, nikon sb800, nikon sb600) with gels and umbrellas.