Trash the Dress beach style | Myrtle Beach SC| wedding photographer

For me there is nothing better than a beach Trash the Dress Session. Having been born and raised in Surfside Beach, SC it is where I feel the most peace. Molly and I are both in the wedding industry. I photograph weddings and she makes custom cakes, cupcakes, and the best cake pops Tartlette treats.  I was really saddened to hear Molly say she didnt feel pretty on her wedding day. Apparently the wedding dress has a long story behind it, a not so good story, so long story short is Erin, Molly's friend won my FB Trash the Dress contest and Molly loved the pictures so she decided she wanted to turn a negative into a positive. Molly wanted to feel beautiful in the gown she were on her wedding day and trusted me to make that happen.

The planning that went into this was deciding on hair, make-up, and any props. Big thanks to Molly for letting me choose the hairstyle and the make-up. I knew I wanted the photographs to be a little edgy with some sex appeal, so I told Molly I wanted her to braid her hair wet and let it dry. Having done my 9 yr old daughters hair like it I knew the result  would be crimpy and stringy. For her make-up I knew I wanted a lot of black eyeliner and a very dark lipstick. Let me give you some insight on what this will do for some photos. By going with a very dark lipstick when you turn the image to Black and white the lips will really pop if you go with a light colored lipstick the lips will blend in nicely with the face, making it less edgy. The hair was done by me, Molly and Deshield, who by the way was a great help to Molly and myself during the shoot. Make-up was done by Molly herself, way to rock it girl.

We were going to start photographing around 4:30 but man ole man was it raining, so we took our time getting ready, had a couple cocktails, and then decided to venture out and within 5 minutes the sun was out and then 10 minutes later there was a rainbow over the ocean, I mean really?  2 days in a row I had been blessed with the presence of a rainbow over the ocean, thank you God! I hope you enjoy the trash the dress pictures and I hope you find one particular picture to be a work of art :-) View Molly's post here about the trash the dress

 

 

What is trash the wedding dress? Facebook Contest Raleigh NC

Its contest time again here at Michelle Gunton Photography. The winner will get a free trash the dress session with the digital files. The winner will also have their hair and make-up done my Made-up. Contest winnings valued over $800.00.  I would like to give a big thanks to Lindsay Morse with Made-up for her contribution to the contest prizes. Lindsay Morse actually had a trash the dress session about a year ago with me and of course did her own make-up for the session. I love the work she does and I am excited to work with her again soon.

So you might ask what is Trash the Dress? Trash the dress can be a little misleading because I have done photos in the past where brides contact me and say,"Michelle My wedding dress came clean after our session, can you believe it?" Honestly sometimes no I couldn't believe it. Trash the dress to me just means that photos are taken in unusual places that are not your normal location for a bridal shoot and no worries about getting the dress dirty. Whether rolling in mud, floating in water, run down cars where there is a lot of rust, in the ocean, etc,etc. A regular bridal session you have to be very careful with the dress. There have been numerous sessions I wanted to try something new but couldn't b/c  I would risk getting the dress dirty. You will see in the pictures below that I start off doing creative wedding shots and then move into getting the dress dirty :-)

Photos like these are not for everyone. There are still some who believe that the wedding dress should be preserved and stored in a closet in the hopes that one day day their daughter will wear their dress 20 or 30 years later? I have been a photographer for a lot of weddings and I have to say the biggest thing people are wearing from the past is the veil. To the best of my knowledge I have not photographed a 2nd generation wedding dress. If you do not want to get your dress dirty then this contest is not for you, do not enter.

This contest might be best for this type bride

1. Do you live a little on the edge and want something different than everyone else?

2. Did you get married years ago when trash the dress wasn't in?

3. Did you get crappy photos from your friend who photographed your wedding for free?

4. Do you want some beautiful, creative, artsy wedding pictures for free?

5. Most importantly are you ok with getting the dress dirty?

So here are the rules of the contest.

You must be a fan of Michelle Gunton Photography on Facebook or become a fan before the deadline to be eligible.

Raleigh wedding photographer in NC Facebook fan Page

Rules:1. One entry per person 2. Once you submit your picture you cant change it. One vote per person, duplicates will not be counted. 3. All votes subject to verification.  5. Winner must have at least 75 fan votes to be eligible to win, past winners of the facebook contest ARE eligible to participate. 6. Prize must be redeemed in August or Sept 2011, prize will be forfeited if not done in these months. Prize is non-transferable. The winner is the person with the most votes on their picture, must be at least 75 votes.

Submit  your favorite wedding photograph from your own wedding to michelle@michellegunton.com, in the subject line put your first and last name. If I was your wedding photographer please do not send a picture with the watermark on it. Photos must be submitted by July 15th,2011 and by submitting your image you are agreeing to allow me to post your image to my blog/FB. On July 17th I will send you instructions on voting that will begin on July 18th,  2011. Very important, any votes cast before voting begins will not be counted.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask. I look forward to seeing your wedding pictures. Session to take place in Raleigh or surrounding areas.