Top Ways To Trash The Dress Skip to main content

Trashing your wedding dress has long been portrayed in movies and pop culture as being solely for a relationship-gone-wrong scenario. However, modern brides are taking the internet by storm and using trashing their dresses as a way to ring in their marriage and bring fun to their relationship!

While the origin of trashing your wedding dress is unknown, there are a couple of methods of trashing your wedding dress that have proven to be fun and engaging ways to bring newlyweds together! Below we have gathered our top picks on how to trash your wedding dress for a fun (and perfect for cinematography) event!

Have a paint war with your husband

One of the cutest ways we have seen brides trash their dresses has been by having a paint war with their new husband! This can either be with homemade balloons filled with paint or it can be at a paintball park! We love the energy that comes into this activity and love the splashes of color that are in the photos and videos following!

Make a splash

This one can be a little more on the dangerous side, but if precautions are taken it can look really cool in film and photos. Jumping into the ocean is popular among destination weddings but for local weddings brides have considered places that are significant and sentimental in their own lives— a lake the couple used to visit a lot, etc. Just remember to make sure you take into account the weight of your dress when you are jumping into a body of water to make sure you aren’t dragged under the waves and can stay safe!

Get artsy

This is perfect for the creative bride who wants to transform her wedding dress into a work of art to display! This can include spray painting your wedding dress, cutting it up to craft with, or anything else your creativity can come up with! For an extra element of sentimentality you can try letting your family members or husband add their own artistic creativity to it or you can try the method below!

Reverent Wedding Films | painter | wedding day videography

Let your guests sign your dress

Want to remember who attended your wedding day and helped make it special? Want to make your wedding dress a hangable work of art? Combine the two and get your guests involved with a dress signing late in the night when you change into another dress— or on a different date if you are not changing dresses! Having your guests sign your dress allows you a way to physically feel and see memories of your special day forever.

Have a glitter war

For the glitter enthusiast, this is the perfect way to show your love for not only for your new husband but for your creative side as well! Have fun with this one! Have a glitter war with your new spouse and let all of that new fun married energy out!

Stage photos of you in your dress doing your favorite things

Perfect for the bride who enjoys lots of hobbies, one way to showcase your interests while trashing your dress is to wear your dress to all of your activities and document the whole day! Wear your dress to yoga class or skiing or hiking! Not only will you love having photos of yourself having fun in your wedding dress, but your friends and family will love seeing you happy and in your wedding dress once again!

Chop it up into a shorter dress

Whether you want a shorter dress to wear at the end of the night or want an excuse to get a little scissor crazy, chopping your dress up can be a fun way to repurpose your dress into a more versatile look!
Use the scraps from your cut up dress to try out the method below!

Repurpose your old dress

Use scraps from your dress to make new things! This can include making keepsakes for your future children, making a keepsake for your new husband, or just using the lace/fabric to make crafts you can keep forever!

Go grape stomping

You’ll have to plan ahead for this one, but going grape stomping in your dress is perfect for the wine-loving bride or the adventurous bride who loves to try new things! Not only will you get to have some creative and carefree fun with your new spouse, but you’ll also get a little adrenaline rush from stomping away in your white wedding dress!

Use the material to make clothes you will actually wear

This one is similar to options we have mentioned above, but if you have a dress made of fabric that can be repurposed into everyday clothes go for it! Not only are you getting use out of a traditionally one-time wear, but you will also be able to think of your wedding day anytime you wear the repurposed clothes!

Have any other ideas for ways to trash your wedding dress? Want us to film your trash the dress session? Let us know in the comments below!

All images are still shots from our wedding films! Watch them all here!