Jake & Claire: Trash the Dress

July 16, 2010

Up to this point in my wedding photography career, I've done a total of eight Trash the Dress sessions (most of which were part of our big TTD Weekend, check out part 1 and part 2). That is until the ninth session came along. I met Jake and Claire back in April when they were making a quick wedding plan, getting married in two months! We did their engagement, and then their amazing and beautiful wedding came along on June 5, and both sessions were great. These two are crazy about each other and are so sweet together, even with the occasional arm twisting and such :)

Their wedding package included a free Trash the Dress session. I headed down to Kalamzoo where we did a few shots at Celery Flatts, a beautiful little park area just off of Westnedge in Portage. After the traditional type TTD shots, we had another project in mind. Claire is a creative lady and decide that her beautiful white wedding dress needed a little color. The photos are so much fun and the result on the dress was actually quite pretty. We had a great session, hold out for the bright and colorful all the way to the end!

^I love this one! Jake is going to pick Claire up and he looks

so intense, but she's just so happy and trusting!

^This one definitely captures their personality!

^Such a loving couple.

^Adoring is lovely wife. You make me smile, Jake!

^The sun was in the PERFECT spot for a halo!

^Your classic "prom pose" still works wonders.

^Ohhhh you can already tell this is going to be good!

^Oh man, they made quick work of this whole thing.

^Nothing like a little yellow smear across the husband's head...

^...and a handprint on his backside!

^Not too much collateral damange. I was worried I might get something somewhere worse, but blue on the leg is just fine.

^ A few bits of paint on my toe :)

Now I would NEVER suggest we do this to someone's wedding dress unless they were SURE they wanted to. Claire, fun-lover that she is, had to talk herself into the idea and was completely committed to it by the time the shoot came around. I would say if anyone is interested, we can always got hunt up a pretty white dress from Goodwill and give it a shot. It was such a fun shoot!

Trash the Dress, Part 2

Park Day, July 11

It was so nice to spend our second day of Trashing the Dresses in the shade! We picked the always beautiful Centennial Park (and the surrounding area) as our location to finish up our big weekend. Even though the weather was warm, we kept nicely tucked under the trees for most of the day and made it through with some more amazing photos! Special thanks to the lovely Tracy Park at Park Place Floral for being our "park day sponsor". Love the bouquets, she's amazing.

First off, we met up with Sara, one of Misty's brides, and a friend of both of ours from back in our GVSU Photography days! Sara is another photographer who got married last summer and decided to spend a few hours with us in Holland. We wandered around the park for a bit and then did some much more "gritty" brick poses in an alley across the street. They turned out great!

^Love the peonies from Park Place Floral!

^Misty dubbed Sara our "rockstar" bride... see why?

^LOVE these two of Sara! She's a natural.

Next, we met another of Misty's former brides, Melanie, who got married at the beginning of this year. It was great that she came because we got to give her some photos of her in her dress outside that getting married in the winter doesn't allow. Melanie has the "diva look" going on, and she was totally rocking the feathered bouquet from Park Place Floral! We also found a great sculpture at the local library and an awesome marqui outside a theater where the pretty veil by Eileen's Design's Etc. and the wind finally decided to work together. Special thanks to Melanie's new hubby who came out to help us carry around all our thing!

^Melanie is all glam. And workin' it!

^Melanie is the only one that the veil and the wind worked together

with, although I think Misty was helping here.

Last, but definitely not least, was the beautiful Liz! A friend of mine from college, although I didn't shoot her wedding last summer, was happy to come model her pretty dress for us. She brought along her husband, Bryan, who in turn brought a nice outfit and got into the photos as well. It was a nice change to the dynamic of the day, and we got some lovely shots of the two of them. Being that these two were pretty much up for anything, they were all for hopping in the fountain outside of the Macatawa Bank and splashing around for us. The perfect end to the perfect photo weekend!

^Yay! Our first husband model, thanks Bryan.

^A very serious shot is great in black and white.

^I love this bouquet by Tracy, but it made Misty sneeze!

^I learned about this alley when the photographers of my friend's wedding shot the bridal party here. I've been dying to use it myself for the past year. Finally!

^Probably one of my favorites!

Next year, Misty and I would like to session like this. We're thinking we'll get a hair stylist, make-up artist, and a hotel room for one night. If you have any suggestions or are interested, let me know.