The ‘ Trash the dress’ trend has become a very creative and daring trend of wedding photography in 2025. Unlike the style of traditional wedding photoshoots, it involves the bride and groom ‘ruining’ their wedding outfits–especially the bride’s wedding dress or gown—in a fun, highly artistic or daring manner after the wedding. This means jumping into the sea, rolling in mud or sand, coloring clothes with color or paint, or taking shots at an absolutely inhospitable place—like a Lake, Forest, water springs, or abandoned buildings. It started in the US around 2001, when wedding photographer John Michael Cooper first put forward the concept. At the sight of this boutique wedding trend swept the world, especially in beach and destination weddings.
Photoshoots associated with’ Trash the dress ‘ usually take place the day after the wedding or during the honeymoon. In this, the bride wears her beautiful wedding gown or outfit in a place that is usually not quite suitable for her dress—such as a river, sea, sandy field or old factory. The bride in such shoots can get clothes dirty, or sometimes even tear. Many brides use color powder, paint, flowers or smoke to completely change the dress. Many couples jump into it side by side, making this shoot romantic, funny, and even memorable with daring feelings.
The special purpose of this trend is to capture wedding moments in a fun, spontaneous and non–traditional style. This is for brides/grooms who want to bring their happiness, freedom, and unique identity out of the formal atmosphere of the wedding. It has been customary to keep the wedding dress in the traditional wedding, but now ‘trash the dress’ has become such a means of extraordinary photo creativity in which couples break the ‘bond’ of their marriage to signal a new passion and a new beginning in life.
It is very interesting that it is not mandatory to destroy the ‘trash the dress’ dress completely. Very often this happens just symbolically or with a light photographic touch, like dirty the cloth or putting a little color. Many photo editing tools and software also give the dress a ‘trashy’ look. In addition, very often the dress is also washed well and repaired again. In fact, couples can make it even more unique with their own style—sometimes doing mallakham or yoga in wedding gowns, or creative poses in old buildings.
Millions of posts have been shared on social media platforms under ‘#TrashTheDress’ in 2024-25. Photographers, influencers and common couples are not only adopting it as a new photographic style, but creating a symbol of the new phase of their relationship and life. However, there are some challenges with this trend—sometimes this daring activity can be dangerous (like drowning in water or shooting in high terrain), so proper safety is essential.
Overall,’ trash the dress ‘ wedding photoshoot 2025 has become a trend to innovate the traditions of marriage celebrations, celebrate freedom and creativity, and capture the memories of marriage in a bold and fun way.