Have you ever heard of Trash The Dress? It is a phenomenon that has become popular in the last couple of years where brides trash their wedding dress. This is not something done after a bad marriage or break up, but usually weeks after all the wedding hoopla, honeymoon, etc. are over.

It is usually done with the help of a professional photographer and sometimes the hubby is involved. Why save a dress you'll never wear again and that you won't be able to fit in years from now? Trash it. There is a popular website dedicated to it. (*NOTE: The picture on the right is from the website and NOT of the victim. The picture below IS from the scene.)

TRAGEDY

Yesterday (Aug. 24/12) a recently married woman was apparently going for the “trash-the-dress” pictures when she slipped into a fast moving river and drowned. The bride, thought to be 30 and from Laval, Que., was married June 9. She went to a park near Rawdon, Que. and was being photographed on some rocks near the river. It is thought she slipped, fell into the Ouareau River and the weight of the dress soaking up water dragged her down.

The photographer immediately put down his equipment and tried to help her (as did a nearby witness) but couldn't hold on, the dress was too heavy and kept pulling her down. When police arrived, officers stripped down and dove in but could not find her. Eventually a local scuba diver showed up, volunteered, and found her down stream in deep stagnant basin about 100 feet away.

It should be noted that most are speculating right now that trashing the dress was the intended activity. The website itself was not connected although pictures on the site often involve beaches and water. If you clicked the site above and saw pics, you'll notice too that women also appear on fire at times. This of course is also not recommended as trick photography and photo-shopping are involved.

(ADDED NOTE:  As of Monday, Aug.27/12, the victim has been I.D.'d as Mario Pantazopoulos and reports are she entered the water willingly to be photographed swimming, when the dress became too heavy.  Her last words to photographer Louis Pagakis were "I can't anymore, it's too heavy.")

This is tragic enough without trying to blame anyone. Death by misadventure of any kind is doubly sad. Two witnesses had to be treated for shock so one can only imagine how the groom, friends, family et al, are feeling right now. Trash the dress in and of itself is a fun idea...just think ahead. LEAVE COMMENTS.

For other Larry Fedoruk blogs and features, click here.

This is the approx. location of Rawdon, Dorwin Falls and the general area.

Below is a generic tourism photo of Rawdon showing a similar area to what the bride may have experienced.