Trash the Dress

At the time of my dress fitting, while carefully pinning different areas, the woman asked me, "Are you going to have your dress preserved?"  I honestly had not thought about what I would do.  I knew many women had their dresses preserved, my mother included.  The dress is cleaned, pressed, carefully folded, and placed in a lovely box.  It will forever be a keepsake, and reminder of your special day.  In theory, it sounds quite lovely.

The many women I know, that have preserved their dress, now find their dress sitting on a shelf in a closet, or basement.  Considering our current living situation, I couldn't imagine me bringing my dress back to Russia (I could not afford to lose precious luggage space and weight for a preserved dress) and my dress would most likely take up space on a shelf, joining my mother's dress in the basement.  Maybe, one day, I would move my dress from my parent's house, to a house Ryan and I would buy, but at this point in Ryan's career, I do not know when we will purchase a house.  The idea of preserving my dress was not sounding like such a good plan.

I had a different idea, and personally what I believe to be a better plan for me.  I was going to trash my dress.  Not literally throw it in the trash, but celebrate the dress.  When we decided that French Polynesia would be our Honeymoon destination, I could not imagine a more beautiful location to celebrate, and capture beautiful photographs.  It was decided that my dress would make the trip to Bora Bora, and take a swim.

I know many people may read this, and be shocked by this idea.  How could you ruin such an important piece from your wedding?  What if you were to pass your dress to a future daughter?  Russian coworkers at Ryan's office found the idea of "trashing the dress" to be very odd and unusual.  For me, it is a personal decision that best suits my wishes.  I could not imagine boxing my dress, and placing it on a shelf.  Now my dress is showcased in unbelievable photos that I can share with others, and proudly display.  The photos capture not only the dress, but Ryan and I together, on our Honeymoon.

The photographer gave us many photos.  Here are a few favorites of us together:

Jumping off a dock, and trying to swim in a wedding dress, is the closest I have ever come to feeling like I was going to drown.  Great workout, lots of effort, but in the end, I made it out of the water, and survived to enjoy the amazing photos.