Trash The Dress for Fearless Brides (With Video & Gallery)

“Trash the Dress”, “Vogue Bride”, “Fearless Bride”, “Rock the Frock” or “Don’t Box Me In”. No matter what you call it, the idea is the same: elegant clothing in an unexpected environment shot in a fashion or glamour style. The unexpected locations may include things like the beach, a pool, fields, abandoned buildings, a theme park, train tracks or other rustic locations where a wedding dress would not normally be seen. Originally started by Las Vegas wedding photographer John Michael Copper in 2001 and it was made popular by online sites dedicated to Trash the Dress photography.

There are many reasons why brides choose to have a Trash the Dress session done. Many fearless brides realize that they will never wear this dress again and look at this as an opportunity to take the dress out and have fun taking photos they could not take on the day of the wedding because they didn’t want to chance getting the dress dirty. Some brides see their Trash the Dress session as a declaration that they are 100% committed to their marriage and will never need the dress again. For others the motivation is the fantastic vogue style photography that they will cherish for many years even when the gown no longer fits.

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Of course, there are many brides who love the Trash the Dress photos but are not sure they want to ruin their gowns. The good news is that there are many great options for Trash the Dress sessions that will not actually destroy your wedding dress. Trash the Dress sessions can range anywhere from getting a bit of sand on the dress at the beach to shredding the dress with scissors. If you love the idea of a Trash the Dress session but are a little leary about actually destroying your dress, talk to your photographer. They will be able to suggest plenty of options that will give you amazing photographs and will result in your dress simply needing a quick trip to the dry cleaners.

While Trash the Dress sessions often feature brides, more and more couples are choosing to do Trash the Dress sessions together. A couple’s Trash the Dress session results in beautiful post-wedding photographs to complete your wedding album. There have also been some amazing Trash the Dress sessions done with couples celebrating a 1st, 5th or 10th anniversary who want to celebrate their years together with a special photo session.

Contact your photographer today to discuss your ideas for a special Trash the Dress session that will showcase your gown and your personality like no other photo session can.

Photography by Moments By Marian
Videography by Epic Videography

Image Gallery: Click on an image to enlarge.

Wedding Flowers By Season

Here are some seasonal flower suggestions for you to consider:

For a Winter Wedding, select from

• Daffodils
• Poinsettias
• Evergreens
• Amaryllis

Since winter is their flowering season, daffodils are reasonably priced and also look fabulous in large table vases, either at the wedding rehearsal or wedding breakfast. Also consider using the holiday season as a guide to your selection.

For a Spring Wedding, select from

• Tulips
• Lilies
• Hyacinths
• Ranunculus

Bright blues, pinks and yellows are very common in these spring flowers. They are also available in soft white and pale pastels. And although they combine well, there’s nothing quite as elegant and as lovely as a selection of spring flowers in a singular colour.

For a Summer Wedding, select from

• Daisies
• Gladiolas
• Zinnias
• Dahlias

Since the weather will most likely be quite warm, select flowers that tolerate heat well. This season offers you a large choice of flowers, including beautiful blue Delphiniums and Columbine. And, although roses are available from florists all year round, roses truly give a ‘summer feel’ to a bouquet.

For an Autumn Wedding, select from

• Sunflowers
• Chrysanthemums
• Hydrangeas
• Roses

With this season, take advantage of the full range of vibrant colours. With roses, look for Leonidas (a bi-colour chocolate brown) and Black Magic (the darkest, velvet burgundy). Also consider using a variety of fall-toned foliages, such as copper beech, croton leaves, or vine maple to add interest to your floral bouquet.

Once upon a time, the marriage season hit its height in June and wound down quickly after. But this is no longer the case, due to renewed design sensibilities and availability from around the world.

Text by Norma-Jean Alt
Photography by Dale Schappert

Colin Cowie on Cakes

Cake trends from Colin Cowie’s newest book, Wedding Chic, as seen in Your Wedding… IMAGINE Magazine May 2009. Click on an image to enlarge.

Swags – This two-toned cake is garlanded with small swags of gold icing and finished off with royal icing white roses. Photography by Colin Miller

Stacked – These miniature stacked cakes are decorated with a tone-on-tone flourish of hand-painted gilded rings and a sprinkling of colourful iced flowers. Photography by Garett Holden.

Bar Codes – This series of square tiers is bordered with a vibrant bar code and topped with white daisies and bright spider mums. Photography by Paula Adams.

Wedding Chic offers 1001 Ideas for every moment of your celebration.

For more inspiration from Colin Cowie, pick up your copy of Wedding Chic in bookstores today or visit www.colincowie.com.

Unique, Full Service Venues

A full service wedding venue is a term used for wedding venues that offer a variety of wedding day services and resources all in one package.  For the bridal couple, these can save a lot of headache by limiting the number of contracts and vendors needed for your wedding day.  The actual services included will vary from venue to venue.

One example of a full service facility is Cherry Hill Estate, a 100-acre estate located just 45 minutes southeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba.  Cherry Hill brides have the option to choose from a variety of outdoor ceremony locations including a fabulous one mile beach. For their ceremony, they may choose from 3 unique locations: a glass room that seats up to 40, a barn loft that seats up to 75 guests or insulated Marquis tents that can cater groups of 300 and 500 people.

In addition to a variety of accommodation options, Cherry Hill Estate also offers their brides a full private hair and makeup salon with hair and makeup technicians on site, a private bridal lounge, in house music and DJ services, catering by Harry’s Bar Licensed Family Restaurant and a white wedding carriage pulled by heavy black horses for a grand entrance and excite.

When meeting with your full service venue’s wedding, make sure to inquire about additional onsite or add on services that may be available. Often they will be able to help with many aspects of your wedding day, allowing your more time to relax and enjoy your wedding day.

Invitation Etiquette with Invitations By Dawn

Dear Dawn,

I need help with my invitations! I have an inner envelope, an outer envelope, an invitation, a reception card, a response card and a map to include. What is the correct way to assemble them before I send them out?

Tina
Steinbach, MB

Advice for Tina

Start with the invitation on the bottom, printed side facing up. Then stack the reception card, map card and respond card on top. Insert all four pieces into the inner envelope with the printed sides facing the flap. Then put the inner envelope into the outer envelope with front (addressed side) facing the flap. Then, repeat for each invitation!

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Dear Dawn,

We have a very complicated family circle. My parents are divorced and my mom is remarried. My fiancé’s parents are also divorced and both are remarried. All four parents are helping pay for the wedding, but putting four parents and three stepparents on one invitation just seems like a little much! What is the correct way to word the invitation?

Julie
Morden, MB

Advice for Julie

One option is to word the invitation in a way that includes everyone without listing their names, something like: Name and Name, along with their parents / families, invite you to celebrate with them, etc. If you do want to list all the parents’ names on the invitation, there’s no reason you can’t – just be sure to choose a shorter wording so everything fits and that the names of the divorced parents don’t appear on the same line. Only the names of couples should appear together on one line to avoid confusion.

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Dear Dawn,

My fiancé is an officer in the Royal Canadian Military and a lot of our invited guests are as well. In the past, invitations to my husband have come addressed to him by title and others as Mr. Should I be addressing his fellow officers by title on the invitation?

Samantha
Winnipeg, MB

Advice for Samantha

Ask your fiancé what he prefers and go with that. If he doesn’t have a preference, pick which you like best. If you decide to use titles, here is some advice: Avoid abbreviating military titles, and if a husband and wife have the same military rank and service, use the title followed by both full names on the outer envelope: Captains John and Jane Johnson. The inner envelope should be addressed: The Captains Johnson. If a husband and wife have different services and different ranks, list both ranks: Captain Paul and Major Sally Brown. The most important thing is to be consistent with all your guests.

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Dear Dawn,

I know it is considered poor etiquette to mention gifts on the invitation, but my fiancé and I have been living together for nearly 5 years already. We already have everything we need. Is there a correct way to let guests know we’d prefer cash gifts rather then “things”?

Teresa
Brandon, MB

Advice for Teresa

It is against proper etiquette to mention gifts or a gift registry on the invitation, but you can let your guests know your preference by telling close family members. Ask them to spread the word. Also, be sure to mention your preference when you are asked what kind of shower you’d like. It’s still not proper to just ask for cash, but explain to the hostesses your preference and see if you can come up with something creative, like a “honeymoon fund shower.” Be sure to accept all gifts graciously, even if it’s not money.

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Dear Dawn,

My mother-in-law insists that I write a personal thank you note for each gift received and that I mention what they gave as well. The problem is that three of my fiancé’s cousins sent us the same gift! Should I explain in the note about the duplicates and let them know what we exchanged it for?

Jeanine
Dauphin, MB

Advice for Jeanine

Your mother-in-law is correct, always mention the gift and how much you appreciate it, but never say you’re going to return it. Tell the giver how you’ll use it, and make sure it’s in use when they come to visit. But don’t tell them you’ve returned it or that you received duplicates.

Invitation Etiquette answers and all photos provided by the experts at Invitations By Dawn

Fabulous Colors for Summer Weddings

Planning a Summer Wedding? Pale yellow continues as one of the fashion favorites. Used alone, yellow makes an impact. Used as an accent, yellow compliments many other colors. Pale yellow is… Elegant. Sophisticated. Chic.

Also seen on the wedding run way is orange. From light creamy peaches to darker tangerines, colors in the orange family all complement yellow. So if you want a dramatic effect, mix yellow with orange. TO capitalize on the monochromatic theme, select three colors with different saturations, like pale yellow, soft peach and darker orange.

Remember, colors drawn from nature are always fashionable and timeless.

Text By Norma-Jean Alt

Ask A Florist

What do girls and their mothers want to know about the flowers for their wedding?

Silk or real?

Depends. Is your wedding going to be in January when it is -40 degrees below? Silk is a no care option that you can get ahead of time making them great for convenience and ease of transportation. Some truly gorgeous designs translate very well to silk flowers, and the silks today are very lifelike and botanically correct. Depending on the time of year they can be a bit more expensive than real, but you can keep them afterwards.

Fresh flowers are always wonderful. Sometimes they even provide a lovely scent! Fresh designs are usually the first choice, and prepared by a good professional florist will have excellent lasting qualities throughout your event. Some of the more modern designs are best done in fresh flowers. Nothing beats the real thing!

Table Centres

Your florist will have an abundance of ideas from a simple single flower creatively arranged in a dish with pebbles to tall towers with the arrangement 24” in the air so as not to block conversation at the table, truly a show stopping look. All table centres do not have to be the same. You can have variations on a theme, with each table different, or a real stunner on every second table with accent pieces on the rest of the tables. A theme starting at the head table and carried right through the hall to the front entrance is truly lovely.

Matching Bouquets and Boutonnières

The look can go from all the same with the bride’s bouquet slightly larger, and all boutonnieres matching the bouquets, to each being different in colour and style. We have done a bride with her bouquet on her shoulder and trailing down her arm so she could carry her bouquet all through the reception….. a great look that was so unique. She loved flowers so much she didn’t want to put them down!

Flowers are feelings… they evoke emotion at any event, they will make the wedding! (A really handsome groom helps too!)

Have a professional florist answer all your questions.

Text By Dianne Johnson
Lindsay’s Flowers & More, Steinbach

Reception Menus by Popular Demand

One of the ways the new bride and groom like to show their appreciation to the guests for their attendance as witnesses to their special day and of course, for the thoughtfulness of their gift, is by providing a nice meal for them at the reception. Traditionally this is a hot meal of several meats, usually roast beef and ham or turkey and all the trimmings and then, perhaps, followed by a cold buffet later in the evening. However with the trend these days towards eating healthier, many couples are shying away from red meat altogether and going towards a lighter main dish of poultry and seafood.

It’s no surprise that the popularity of the buffet style of serving remains a feasible option. The ease of self-serve along with the selection available makes the buffet a convenient way to go. If envisioning the inevitably long buffet lines that usually go with buffets may leave you wary, don’t fret. The latest trend has the traditional food table being broken down into mini buffets. Individual food stations are placed around the room instead of having only one or two serving lines. Each station features one type of food, such as meat, salads, and vegetable dishes and is more efficient than having the guests stand in long lines. And they can mingle while they get their food. For those who really want to get creative you can have more adventurous menu items at some stations, such as Indian or Chinese or Sushi. For dessert, what really takes the cake now is a dessert bar. Ask your caterer to select an array of delicious delights, such as cheesecake squares, gourmet chocolate chip cookies, mini crème brûlées, and chocolate-covered strawberries. Add a chocolate fountain centerpiece for dramatic effect and voila! That’s one table that is sure to draw a crowd! Some couples are even opting not to serve the wedding cake and instead, use it purely for decoration and pictures, or to send home with the guests as favors. This saves money because you can have imitation base layers, with only a real cake tier on the top and a few layers for cutting.

Still other couples prefer the pomp and circumstance of the full dinner service with its traditional appetizer of soup, main course and dessert with tea or coffee. If budget is not a consideration it’s a great option. The latest trend here has couples choosing smoked salmon, ostrich and quail as the most preferred menu selections. Venison and even buffalo are becoming short listed as choices for the formal sit down dinner however, the ever-popular prime rib served either “au jus” or with traditional Yorkshire pudding as well as in a combination of surf and turf, short rib and lobster will always remain a favorite. And of course every chef has his signature dish which is always a good choice when you’re not sure which way to go. Before deciding on a reception hall find out if they have an in-house caterer. If so, you may have to use his or her services if you rent the hall. In that case, you will need to interview the caterer in-depth before you decide on the location. Anywhere else you plan to hold the reception, from a backyard to a beach and anywhere in between, you will have to hire a caterer on your own. Interview several. Check references. Perhaps have him or her prepare your intended selections for a taste test. Remember to ask what is included when it comes to using delivery service to location, the set up, servers, linens, and utensils and clean up. Make sure everything you want is agreed upon and written in the contract. The latest reception menu trends help ensure your guests will enjoy the celebration party as much as you had hoped they would.

Text By Nancy Johnston