
photo by john michael cooper
In our
previous blog post, we talked about the two types of “TTD” (Trash the Dress) sessions. In this blog, we’ll give you the details about TTD:Dirty. We haven’t yet had anyone to volunteer to set themselves on fire -but if that’s your thing, then we’ll film it
The Dress
TTD sessions usually aren’t done on your actual wedding day -obviously, it’s done after. There’s no way you’d want to wear a muddy or painted dress to your reception!
If you’ll be wearing your actual wedding gown, then make sure you set up dry cleaning arrangements ahead of time. Maybe even let them know what you’ll be doing, so when you bring in your painted or muddy dress they won’t look at you like you’re crazy.
Many brides just buy a dress specifically for TTD. Seriously, if you don’t want to use your actual wedding dress, go to Goodwill, Craigslist or an outlet store. Find a dress that doubles or looks as close as possible to your actual wedding gown. Surprisingly, many times you can find an old wedding dress or sometimes a newer dress that costs little to nothing!
Keep in mind that you’ll want to be comfortable. Just like your actual wedding gown, you’ll want to be able to wear your TTD dress for a couple of hours; and on top of that you’ll be wearing it through dirt, water, mud, and who knows what else!

photo by Hassas Photography
The Extremes: Water
The three most common Extremes of TTD are water, mud, and paint. Most brides don’t mind to get their dress wet because, after all, it’s just water and it will dry. The bride and her dress can still seem so elegant dripping with water or being completely submerged. Under water, the bride’s dress can still be completely seen and it seems fuller because the water tends to float the dress out from the body -creating a floating, dreamy appearance.
We build up in a TTD session from a few drops of water to complete submersion. Most of the time, our first shot is just of the bride standing by water or playing near it (teasing the camera.) Then, she might splash in the water a little or wade through it. Keep in mind that this is building up to the grand finale (the final shot) -jumping into the water, completely submerging herself. The last thing we will have you do is jump into the water because once you’re drenched there’s no going back to dry!

photo by bobbi + mike
Mud
Let’s face it, we’ve all wanted to get down and dirty. The advantage of being a “muddy bride” is that you’ll get to look sexy and have fun! Ladies, you know you want to do this so don’t be afraid to try it! You can always clean your dress or buy a cheap dress just for a TTD session.
Just like the TTD:water, the first shot will be of the bride dabbling in the mud -squishing her toes in it, getting her hands dirty, tossing it around. Next shot, she’ll be sitting in it. Then, before you know it, she’ll be rolling around in it, caking it in her hair, and will be completely covered in mud!

photo by marc eric
Paint
For a painting TTD session you can drip paint on your dress, paint a masterpiece on your dress, or just completely go nuts and soak your dress in paint.
You don’t even have to get that much paint on your dress. You can paint your body completely and drip some on your dress and it still looks like you went crazy in paint. You could actually use kid’s paint. It’s made for children (and we all know they’re messy) which makes it much easier to wash out of clothing.

photo by taylor jackson photo
You don’t even have to get any paint on your dress at all… just paint yourself! Paint your body, paint a canvas, paint a wall, just don’t paint your dress

Use as many colors as you can paint with… or just paint with your wedding colors. You could paint your wedding date on a canvas or wall, and this could make a great scene for your DVD Menu.

photo by uncontained photography
…or you could just completely go nuts! Paint your hair, paint your dress, paint the wall, paint the floor! Every thing will be covered in paint, but your smile will shine brightly through it.
This is just a colorful way to express yourself in your wedding dress. Go all out! Go crazy! Paint yourself and have fun doing it!
photo by galina walls
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