Trash The Dress!!!

I finally got up the nerve (and found the time off from work) to do my Trash The Dress photo shoot.  My absolutely amazing wedding photographer, Tess Moran (Tess' website), suggested we do the shoot in Buffalo as she knows the area well and knows some great spots.  I am always up for a trip to Buffalo (they have GREAT shopping.  Seriously... Walden Galleria Mall is heaven) so I hit the road!  Tess recommended Stacey from Studio 2000 to do my hair, and she was awesome (although in the wind and cold, my cute curls didn't stand a chance).  Next I went to Sephora to have my makeup airbrushed (LOVE their Temptu system).  I had my wedding makeup done at Sephora in May and just love the look (in person and on camera) of airbrush makeup... plus they do it for free!!  Hel-lo awesome!!

I met up with Tess at her studio and we did  a special shoot (I would post details, but it's a surprise for Kevin for our anniversary... maybe I'll post a review after that). 

Then we headed out to downtown Buffalo.  Tess knows the area well and has a phenomenal eye for creative locations and poses.  We ended up going to the old first ward, not exactly the nicest part of the city.  The area was full of abandoned buildings, factories and mills which made the perfect backdrop for the shoot.  It was a little bit rustic, a little bit grungy and a lot of fun.  A colleague of Tess, Andy Buscemi, joined us for the shoot so he could build his portfolio.  So I had 2 photographers... I felt like a rock star and it was an absolute blast.  I felt totally confident, comfortable and relaxed.  It was great to just goof round in my wedding dress (and some wicked cute rain boots) and snap some laid back pictures.

You can't tell from this picture, but there was a building next to this bridge... it was some sort of barracks (fire? maybe?) anyway... it was full of young guys, so they got quite a show, lol.  They were shouting out the window the whole time we were there, like hecklers at a football game.  As I was walking up, one of them shouted "I like your Boo?s"... I heard "I like your boobs" so I turned around and gave them the death stare.  He then yelled "I said BooTs"... and I cracked up.  Oops.

Another one of them shouted "It's not too late"... and I said "I'm already married."  He fired back "It IS too late."  I laughed so hard.  Those guys kept me laughing throughout the first half of the photo shoot.

Tess spotted this window from the top of the walkway.  She said "It looks like a heart, we HAVE to take some shots by it."  So... I climbed through some bushes and voila... heart window pictures!!  Isn't that cool?

By the end of the shoot, I was absolutely freezing (it was a brisk 40ish degrees outside), my dress was a mess and my veil was in shreds (thanks to the spikey bushes I climbed through), but that's what a Trash The Dress is for.  I loved every minute of it and am thrilled with how the pictures turned out.

Hope you enjoy!