Hello, hello! I know I haven’t posted in a while. Things have been crazy busy now the wedding is done and it’s time to get back to everything at home that we neglected during the planning. We are still on a high after our wedding and were SO EXCITED last week when we were notified our wedding photo proofs are ready. Our amazing photographers where Gino and Heather Lucadamo of StoryByPhoto.com. They specialize in destination weddings and are also a blast to hang out with! 

The day after the wedding we chose to do a “Trash the Dress” shoot. I remember the first time I heard the term Trash the Dress. I was mortified! Why on earth would someone trash their wedding dress? Why would they destroy something so special? Well the more I read I started to realized that “Trash the Dress” isn’t always what it sounds… The dress may not get trashed at all. Sometimes what’s called Trash the Dress is really just a ‘post-wedding’ photo shoot. Often these are done in an unconventional location. I have TTD links I’ve posted here in other posts. Sometimes you see an unconventional location like the couple sitting cross legged in the middle of a street. Other times you see a backdrop or setting that is often in stark contrast to the delicate beauty of a wedding dress. Graffiti walls, “ruins”, among cacti, riding bicycles (or even banana tubes!) and of course, getting in the water!

The more I looked at these photos, the more I started to love the idea. In these sessions, the couple is often much more relaxed and having fun! Gone are the pressures and distractions. Suddenly its time for the two of you to ‘play’ and really get some unique photographs. Suddenly I ‘had to have’ these pictures. Luckily, my husband also loved the idea!

After spending what’s often countless hours looking for the dress and thousands of dollars to buy her, its still hard to imagine ‘trashing’ her. Shortly before the wedding I purchased a simple white cotton strapless eyelet sundress that I was thinking I would probably use for the shoot. Even I couldn’t imagine subjecting my Romona to dirt and bricks and water.

We made it through the wedding and had our TTD shoot lined up for the next afternoon. I so loved my dress that I realized I wasn’t done making some amazing memories with her. I packed up the dress and the veil and we stopped by to pick up the photographers. We asked the hotel concierge for directions to the “Gold Mill Ruins”. Well we should have been more specific and asked for the Bushiribana Gold Mill Ruins. This is the location of some of the dramatic post-wedding photos you may have seen; large rock walls and the sea crashing in the background.

Instead we were sent to the Balashi Gold Mill Ruins. These were not at all what we expected. Not the drama of Bushiribana. We were conflicted – make the most of it, or go in search of the intended location? We decided to make the most of it and are so glad we did. We totally had the place to ourselves and still got some gorgeous photos…. Photos you probably won’t see anywhere else! That’s what’s great about having a brilliant photographer – they can make any location ‘the location’.

So I put on ‘the dress’… Romona, and we got started. I went to climb up in the window and realized it was going to be a challenge. The dress really could get damaged. I knew I was ready and up I went! It was a rush. A nook or cranny we wouldn’t have given a second glace to inspired the photographers. We had an idea the photos were going to be cool, but really had no idea just how much we were going to love them! And even better!?! We had time to hit the beach and do sunset in the water!

A few minutes away was Eagle Beach. We parked by the Bucuti and got in the water there. (Remember, there are no private beaches in Aruba.) There were very few people around. Our photographer told us to just take a stroll down the beach and back. We had fun goofing around. And they warned us — the ‘getting in the water’ part goes really quick. So how did we do it? Well we started walking… he said go ahead and walk in the water a little bit. Just maybe our feet. Then he had me lay on the sand, head toward the beach, feet toward the water. The idea was I’d be laying there and the waves would come up and envelope me. Swallow me up. I thought this would be a succession of building waves, but instead we got one big wave right off the bat! And he got the pic!!! What a surreal feeling…

After officially getting drenched, then we went ahead and went into the water to play. It was hilarious. Its amazing how heavy a wet wedding dress gets! And the waves were strong. They kept knocking me over. And the photogs had ideas of these shots they wanted – him lifting me up or carrying me out of the water… yeah, right! Took a LOT of tries with the water knocking me over again and again and him adjusting to the fact that I now weighed 20 or 30 pounds more than he is used to. It was an absolute blast.

So why trash ‘the’ dress instead of the sundress? A dress I love so much? A dress I worked so hard to find and pay for? It’s hard to explain. Part of it was wanting those photos. I’ve never felt as beautiful as I did in that dress. Part of it is saying goodbye to ‘the bride’, the single woman. Part of it was an outlet for some of the frustrations I experience during planning…

Our photographers warned us the dress was going to be smelly. We got back to the hotel and let her air out on the balcony the next three days. When I went to collected it, what a sight! Why didn’t I feel a tinge of regret, I don’t know. I’m very sentimental about the dress and just grinned as I thought about the fun we had together. My husband was the one that actually insisted we get it dry cleaned and even ‘preserved’. It was embarrassing to bring it to the cleaners. There was all kinds of sand and even driftwood in the underskirt. He sent it out and it did take longer than normal to get back. I’m still dying to open ‘the box’ and survey the damage, but the dry cleaner insists it came clean! Seriously!?! He said if it didn’t you’d see the ’sorry…’ sticker, tag, indicating there were stains they couldn’t get out. Clean? Really? I actually had a couple of photographers tell me that many of the dresses come clean just fine. Still, you have to be prepared for it to not come clean.

Now she’ll be boxed up til our 10th year anniversary when we’ll open it back up. Our joke is that if I can fit into it on our 10th anniversary I’ll get diamonds! What does he get if I don’t? I guess he gets to save a lot of money! Or maybe by then he’ll decide he gets a sports car if I don’t. Its all in fun…

In the end, these turned out to be our favorite photos! I feel really lucky that I have a husband that was willing to entertain what to many seems like such a crazy idea. And we were so lucky to have such gifted photographers that captured how young and adventurous we feel!

Oh and those photographers, no, they are not in Aruba. Though I tried and tried, I just couldn’t seem to find any that compared. Sometimes you just ‘know’. You see photos that take your breath away and know you won’t settle for less. My advice – never settle with your wedding photos!

All photos credit: Gino & Heather Lucadamo, StoryByPhoto.com.