It's the latest trend that horrifies some brides and seems liberating to others: trashing the wedding dress. Rolling around in swamp water and running through city streets, ruining the expensive symbol of the perfect bride... can this really be fun?

Take a look at it from Verlee Somera and Josh Gumban's view and you’ll see how it's not only fun, but can also be very symbolic to the bride and groom.

The after-wedding photo session is a chance for a couple to relax, let loose and revel in their new marriage. Some take place within days of a wedding; after 18 months of planning, Verlee and Josh decided to take a short break before filming their shoot.

“We got married in August, but waited until November to do our shoot,” Verlee says. “It gave us a chance to unwind after the honeymoon, let it all go, to breathe. When we did it, gave us a chance to be ourselves and have fun.”

One of the keys to the great session was close relationship between the couple and their photographer, Susan Yee of en pointe photography. Susan started to get to know the couple with an engagement session in Coronado, including a stop at the famous Hotel Del. Verlee and Josh’s wedding at St. Gregory the Great in San Diego was a festive and colorful affair , and Susan photographed the ceremony and an impromptu after session that captured the essence of the couple.

So when the time came to shoot the after wedding session, it was easy for the three of them to play it by ear and trust their instincts. “We didn’t know exactly what we wanted, only that we would end up at the water,” Verlee says.

Their sense of fun comes through in each of their photos. A walk through San Diego took them past landmarks, crosswalks and stores; a hammock in front of one store caused Verlee and Josh to kick off their shoes and slide in together. A mural of John Lennon prompted them both to jump with joy, creating a photo that is uniquely theirs.

The ocean’s edge is where they landed, and they took advantage of the empty beach and the crisp autumn surf. Verlee and Josh frolicked and cuddled, and the images Susan captured ranged from whimsical to deeply romantic. The couple was able to play because of Verlee’s willingness to ruin what she calls “the most important dress a girl can wear.”

A bride can get lost in all of the planning, she says, and it’s easy to invest too much in the idea of the dress and the wedding instead of focusing on the marriage. “I felt beautiful in my dress and I loved it, but I knew it was going to get dirty the day of my wedding,” Verlee says. “It was never going to stay perfect, so I was able to let it all go.”

Verlee laughs, “I’m just glad I could get into it a second time.”

And their “trash the dress” image? The couple used their favorite shot for their first holiday card together.

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