If you haven’t heard of the concept of Trash the Dress, you probably will begin to hear about it more and more now. Trash the Dress, which was begun by photographer, John Michael Cooper, has made it to the Today Show.

Trash the Dress isn’t about trashing the dress as much as it is about creating artistic, fashion-inspired images of a bride in her gown. I also like the term Rock the Dress, which can be a little more tame. These awesome photo sessions are ususally done after the wedding day, but even if you’re aren’t totally up for trashing your dress, you should definitely rock your dress. You can rock your dress during your bridal session before the wedding. Rocking the dress means having a fashion inspired concept, venturing into places where you might not normally feel comfortable taking your dress, but still keeping it pretty clean and completely undamaged. Besides, you can get the thing cleaned!

Rocking or trashing the dress can also include the groom. Sexy post-wedding shoots are perfect for this.

So, who’s game? Let’s do it!

Asha and Daniel wanted formal wedding portraits of the two of them together before the wedding day so they could enjoy their reception immediately following their wedding ceremony at Alta Ski Resort.  So, Daniel came along for Asha’s bridals.  I loved doing this because it allowed much more time to be creative without the stress and time constraints of the wedding day.  We went to Memory Grove, but we didn’t want the usually Memory Grove look, so we walked up to the trail there.   All it takes to get something different, is to do a little exploring and break out of the norm.  There must have been at least 5 other brides there that evening, but we didn’t really notice them around us because we ventured off into other places.   Then, we headed to City Creek Canyon, one of Asha and Daniel’s favorite places and did some beautiful photographs there.  I just loved working with Asha and Daniel on these and really enjoyed the opportunity to photograph Asha in her Sari.

Like what you see? Want bridal photography of your own? Check out the details at www.melissakelseyphotography.com!

I’ve been dying to post Lydia’s bridals because they are…WHOA. Lydia and Jesse were just married on Sunday in a gorgeous ceremony and had a crazy-fun reception at Wolf Creek Resort in Eden, Utah. So, now I get to show off the bridals. Lydia looked amazing in her gown from Angell’s Originals in Salt Lake City. My friend and sometimes assistant, Soozee (whose darling twin girls you may have seen here recently), came along. She helped guide Lydia into beautiful poses. With her artist’s eye, Soozee has a total knack for artistic, dramatic posing. After a little while, Lydia just totally worked it on her own without any help. I was totally delighted with Lydia’s photos during the daylight, but then, we busted out the lighting equipment when it got dark and I was just elated with the results. The last photo shows what my feet and pants looked like after the session. I’ll do anything, climb anything, and lie down in anything for a great shot.

Chelsey is a gorgeous bride. She had a specific location in mind, so off we went to the Provo Castle. Chelsey looked amazing as always, with a figure flattering, vintage-inspired gown and makeup and hair styled by Joell of Enizio Salon. Professional hair and makeup can take you from pretty to “holy cow!” for your bridal session and wedding day. Joell also happens to be Chelsey’s best bud and we had an awesome time, along with Melanie, Chelsey’s super-cute, super-fun mom who makes me feel like part of the family.

I’ve been dying to post Chelsey’s bridals because I just love them so much. Her wedding to the oh-so-handsome Mitch was yesterday, so now I get to post them! Wait until you see the wedding day photos from the Salt Lake LDS Temple and The Bungalow in Pleasant Grove, Utah. WOW! Until then, click on the slideshow below to see how amazing Chelsey looked. I’m thinkin’ my photography skills weren’t too shabby either. What do you think?

Christine got married January 31st at The Point, so now I get to show off her bridals! We had a lovely session at the Utah State Capitol. I just love Christine’s creamy skin and beautiful red hair and the skirt on her dress…like a chiffon cupcake dream.

When we decided to do her bridals at the Capitol, Christine told me to remind me her to tell me a story about her and the Capitol. When she was little, on a school field trip, she got her head stuck between two of the marble balusters on one of the railings and the fire department had to come get her unstuck. Upon hearing this funny story, I insisted we recreate the moment. Her head is a little bigger now, so she didn’t get it stuck, but it was fun to pretend.  Watch the slideshow to see our recreation.

I haven’t posted many of my sessions because as most of you know, it’s wedding season!  I just uploaded a ton of new site content in the following categories under Galleries:

• Featured Wedding
• Beautiful Brides
• Cute Couples

I’ll do a quick rundown with some photos from some of my weddings and sessions below.

Whitney is a gorgeous bride and so easy to work with.

Whitney’s Bridal Session

And some from their wedding…

Next, we have the lovely Quincy.  Quincy and Phil’s wedding at St. Ambrose Catholic Church and their reception at Log Haven were beautiful.  Their friends and family really know how to party!

Their wedding and reception:

Laura is an actress, singer, and all around ham.  You can check out more of her awesome bridal shots in my bridal gallery at www.melissakelseyphotography.com as well as her wedding and reception (in the Featured Wedding gallery).  You’ll see her handsome new husband, Ryan, too.  They’re going to have cute kids!

Amanda and Matt are completely in love.  Matt is from West Virginia and Amanda is from Texas.  I love their easy-going attitudes.  Amanda and I could just blab on forever.  There are more of their engagement photos in my Cute Couples gallery on my website.  Their August wedding is going to rock.

Brittany, Dustin, and I went up American Fork Canyon and took Dustin’s horse, Sissy, along.  We hiked up (and down the side of a bank) through trees and dirt to get to some the spots where we shot.  Not just any photographer will do that!  Godd thing I was raised in the mountains.

It was such a wonderful shoot.  Brittany is the biggest sweetheart ever and Dustin is a modern-day cowboy.  I am stoked on the photos from this shoot.  I just shot Brittany’s bridals a few evenings ago and WOW!  I know their wedding in Brittany’s grandfather’s 3 acre “backyard” is going to be beautiful.

There you go!  Those are many of the weddings and sessions I’ve been doing since April.  There are more to post, but I’m tired of uploading photos right now!  I’ll post more later.  Ta ta for now!