Del Sol: Why did you decide to do a trash the dress – did you family and friends think you were crazy?
Candace: “Ever since I learned a trash the dress was something you could do I have always wanted to do it. I think Rob just went with it since I was so excited about the idea that he couldn’t help being excited about it too!”
“My parents didn’t think we were crazy, it made sense to them. I do think my mom was slightly horrified that I was doing this in a nice wedding dress.” – Candace
“Rob’s parents on the other hand were terrified about it, the entire day before they kept texting us, telling us not to do it, it was dangerous, etc., but I think they didn’t really understand what it was. But we did it anyway, and what an amazing experience!”
Del Sol: How was your Tulum Cenote Experience?
“The cenote experience was surreal. The larger cenote that we went to, made you feel like you were part of nature, with all the vines, and roots growing into the water, and especially the effect that the smoke had on all of the light rays made it magical.”
“It was actually a lot easier than expected. At the beginning, it was odd, since you never actually breathe underwater the way Sol was asking you too. That was the most challenging part; to train your body to go underwater without air. At first, this was challenging, but all we needed was a little freedom, to swim around the cenote in our clothes to test out how easy or hard it was, and for us it was EASY. The rest just came naturally as we knew what were capable of. The best part, was all the diving groups that kept coming through the area, and how they’d all laugh and make comments of how they wish they had done that! So that was fun!”
Del Sol: What was the most memorable part of the day?
Candace: “The most memorable part of the day, was when we climbed down into the little cenote, and Sol told us to lay down on a paddle board, balance a burning chalice on it and go through this small little opening where you could see bats flying around and a little bit of light. This then opened up into a little cave that had a keyhole of light that entered into it. So unique!”
“Never thought, I would ever do that in a full veil and wedding dress.” – Candace
Del Sol: How was your experience with Sol and the Del Sol Team?
They were amazing, and you always felt safe whenever you were doing anything in the water.
What would be your advice for other couples considering a trash the dress?
“Do it, you won’t regret it! Even if you don’t know how to swim, you can still make it work!” – Candace
“I would say for one piece of advice, take a few minutes to just swim around in your dress so that you know what it feels like and what your ability is. After that you just feel so much more relaxed and you can have allot of fun and challenge yourself too!”
Del Sol: After reading your parents were worried about “doing that to the dress” I wonder, how is it?
“That’s probably the best part! There are a few holes in the train, but nothing that is super noticeable. If I wanted to, I definitely could wear it again or sell it with minimal if any repair at all. I have not dry cleaned it yet, I’m on the fence about keeping it or consigning it.
“Overall though, it got sandy on the beach, as expected, and then cleaned from the cenote. I air-dried it when we got back to the resort and it was good to go back on the hanger within an hour.”
“That being said, I haven’t looked at my dress nor opened the clothes bag since we left Mexico until right now and…it smells clean, no smells (honestly!). My veil that I wore/bought specifically for the TTD was completely ripped to shreds. I did bring it back with me, but my only reason for doing that was that I’ve cut it short and a friend is using it for upcoming bridal/bachelorette parties.”
“I think the overall thought of the, “you’re going to do that to your dress!?”, mentality is more from our older generations (those who are around the 60year+ age range). The mothers/aunts and older wedding gown sales reps had a really hard time wrapping their brains around a TTD idea. They would all say, “Oh.., you should just go get a cheap dress for that. You don’t want to do that in your real dress.””
“I think with the mentality, that I would bring it home, get it cleaned, preserve it in a box and hope to look at it again in the future or give it to a daughter; which seemed to be what most of our older female family generation envisions. Many friends, and younger family/sales reps seemed to be completely on board and thought it was a great idea, because otherwise the dresses just sit in closet/box, forgotten.
Del Sol: Also, in reaction to Rob’s parents, and the “Its dangerous” part… What is your take on that ? Was it one of the most fun days of adventure ?? OR did you actually feel fear or any danger at all ?
“I think this stemmed, from them not really understanding what we were doing. I think his parents thought we were literally going to go to the Tulum ruins and jump off the cliffs into the ocean, or go on a boat into the middle of the ocean and jump in hoping for the best.”
“I think they were just scared because they didn’t really understand or grasp what we were doing. The part I found the funniest about this, was that myself and Rob are great swimmers, we even worked as lifeguards for years through university, so seeing as how they were worried about us and the danger, I definitely think that it was lack of full understanding for what our TTD was.”
“We never felt fearful or in danger at all, if anything it was surreal. A super fun day that we will never forget”
“We got to see a true natural side of Mexico that we would probably have never had the experience of otherwise. I would actually say, that if we were to come back in a few years and do a TTD anniversary photoshoot, I would want to try something more advanced (add on the scuba gear and go in the ocean or a shipwreck for example!)”
Del Sol: We ask these questions because they are generally misconceptions… 1. TTD is going to trash something (not true usually) when the focus is on so much creation and beauty and what is true in the end is that a wine stained dirty dance floor will ruin a dress as much or more than a crystal clear spring would, no ?
“I would agree with you, those are misconceptions. Unfortunately, I would say it is a generational concept. I would say the vast majority of friends, family, and co-workers who have now seen our pictures think they are amazing and either want to do something TTD with their upcoming weddings or wish that they had. The older generations are still engrained with the wear the dress once, then preserve it for decades, but the conception is slowly changing.”
“Living in Calgary, one of our friends can’t do destination for family reasons, but have thought of doing a TTD in the snow/polar plunge in Banff or a paintball game adventure. So the idea of TTD is changing and starting to definitely become a trend/part of getting married for younger generations =)”
“As for dangerous, I get it. We are taught not to go swimming in clothes, or if you fall in a river/lake or off a boat fully clothed to swim to shore/get out as soon as possible, as heavy clothes can lead to drowning. That is a life skill that we are taught growing up.”
“I think it’s important that brides know what they are comfortable doing and what they are not.”
“I wanted to know how heavy my dress was going to be in the water, so I swam around in it a bit and learned that it was like air as long as I didn’t let the fabric not wrap around my legs, which was easy to figure out how to manage. But I can see that if you are an average swimmer (doggy paddler), a big wet dress or slim fitted dress in the water could be intimidating.”
“As long as brides know their real swimming abilities, and have a chance to try, there shouldn’t be any fear and just pure FUN and RELAXATION instead =) I also, fully trusted Sol and her team to help me if needed, and new my husband would also be able to tell if I was having trouble underwater or not too.”
