Bride Sets Gown on Fire for making a special day

DONGGUAN, China - July 18, 2013 - PRLog -- Some brides will do anything to find the perfect wedding dress, while others will do anything to destroy it. Newlywed Natasha Samuel put her life on the line for the sake of a dramatic, fiery "Trash the Dress" ceremony — a ritual in which newly married women pose for photos while destroying their bridal gowns.

In May, after Samuel married Daniel Yakcobi on the beach in Israel, she intentionally set her wedding dress (http://www.bersun.com.au) on fire all in the name of art. Samuel had a friend soak the train of her dress in lighter fluid and then lit the whole thing on fire, according to the  Daily Mail. A trail on the beach immediately started flaming in an orange glow up the bride's back while a photographer from Tel Aviv's White Studio Photography quickly snapped the striking, unique photo.

Samuel managed to smile with a calm, beautiful face for the camera, and within seconds she squelched the flames by running into the ocean and her new husband ran to put out the rest of the fire with a fire extinguisher. Samuel remained unharmed, but the back of her dress was singed to ash. This resulting photo is quite powerful, depicting Samuel emerging from engulfing flames.

"One of my brides wanted to do a photo that would be very special," Eric Simantov of White Studio Photography told Yahoo! Shine. "We searched the Web [and] we saw a similar photo done with Photoshop, so the bride asked me to do it. After I spoke to a firefighter and learned the right way to do it with all kinds of safety, we did it." We reached out to the newlyweds for comments on the photo shoot, but have not heard back at press time. The photo agency posted the video of the event on Facebook earlier this month, and it has since been shared by over 300 users. By Wednesday, the photo had been picked up by national news outlets, many wondering whether the bride had gone too far.

Believe it or not, Samuel is not the first bride to create a "Trash the Dress" photo with fire. Other scenarios depicted in past photos include paint bombs, food fights, jumping off a cliff into the ocean, riding a rollercoaster, and water skiing. Las Vegas wedding photographer John Michael Cooper is credited with starting the trend in 2001, when he felt bored with traditional photos and convinced his clients to pose in their pristine wedding gowns in unusual or grimy locations. "In fashion photography, they often put really pretty people in very ugly places," Cooper told the New York Times in 2007. "I'm applying that technique to weddings."

Those seeking ideas should head over to Pinterest. The unofficial showcase for creative bridal ideas, it features many "Trash the Dress" inspiration boards. Not everyone will want to trash their dress, but if black wedding gowns and mullet bridal dresses aren't your thing, consider this one more way to make a serious statement on your big day.