Many brides have dreamed of their wedding dress since childhood, so it’s no surprise that after the big day has come and gone, most of us choose to preserve those fantasy gowns for future generations. But a number of brides are going in a whole new direction with “Trash the Dress,” an artistic concept where those precious designer gowns are burned, ripped, dirtied, and all-out destroyed in a post-wedding avant-garde photo shoot.

Candice Benson of the wedding and event-planning firm The Finishing Touch in West Orange (973-525-5884 thefinishingtouchevents.com) has found that many of her brides are definitely up for more creative photo options. “It’s about finding a fun way to express themselves—it’s not necessarily about damaging or destroying the dress,” she explains.

With that in mind, Benson created a more palatable version of the Trash the Dress trend, with her Mess the Dress photo shoots. Here, her brides’ gowns will simply get dirty or wet in the ocean and sand, in trees, on a horse, etc. (some photographers can even take underwater shots of couples). It’s the best of both worlds: Couples get the imaginative photos they’re looking for, but the damage to the bride’s dress is minimal.

One of Benson’s couples, Jamie and Jason Weber of Oakland, were married in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and participated in a Mess the Dress shoot the day after their February 17 nuptials. The couple’s photographer, Norman Gilbert of Norman Gilbert Photography in Memphis (901-766-9996; photonorm.com) came up with the original concept, which called for the couple to get waist-deep in the ocean, climb on top of rocks, and roll around in the sand. And although some planning needed to go into the session, once everyone got down to the beach it was all about being spontaneous. “This concept centers around having fun, and doing something you’ve been told never to do: get your dress dirty!” explains Gilbert.

After about 30 minutes on the beach, Jamie and Jason headed to the hotel pool area, where they were snapped diving into the water and sipping champagne in the poolside bar. One of Gilbert’s favorite photos is of Jamie sitting on a lounge chair in her gown—surrounded by hotel guests in their swimsuits. “It’s very tongue in cheek, like ‘what here doesn’t belong?’” he says.

And the couple couldn’t be happier with the end result. “We absolutely love those photos!” raves Jamie. “They’re better than the formal ones we took on the wedding day because they show off our true personalities.” And the best part? At the end of the shoot, Jamie’s wet and sandy Alexia Couture gown was shipped back to New Jersey to be cleaned and preserved.