Article content

The bride who died during a photo shoot in Quebec last week when her wedding dress became heavily soaked in a river, dragging her into the water and causing her to drown, was participating in growing trend called “trash the dress.”

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Quebec bride Maria Pantazopoulos drowned during 'trash the dress' photo shoot Back to video

Maria Pantazopoulos, 30, had married in June and wanted to immortalize her wedding dress with Friday’s photo shoot, family friend Leeza Pousoulidis told the Montreal Gazette.

“Trash the dress” is a style of post-wedding photography that features the bride in her dress in an unconventional setting, often using water or other environmental factors that effectively ruin the garment.

“She’s a really fun girl, and she just didn’t want her wedding dress sitting in a box in the closet,” Pousoulidis told The Gazette. “She said ‘I want to have fun with my wedding dress. I want to have great pictures and memories of me in my wedding dress.’”

Wedding photographer Louis Pagakis was taking photos of Pantazopoulos in the Ouareau River in Rawdon, 75 kilometres northeast of Montreal, when the weight of her dress pulled her into the current.