Heartbreaking final words of bride who died in tragic ‘trash the dress’ photoshoot after wedding day
The final words of a newlywed bride, who tragically died months after her own wedding day during a themed photoshoot, have been revealed.
Maria Pantazopoulos, 30, had exchanged vows with her husband Billy on June 9, 2012. But just two months later, she lost her life during a 'trash the dress' photoshoot.
'Trash the dress', which is also known as 'fearless bridal', is a style of wedding photography that sees the white dress contrasted with a dramatic and out-of-place environment.
It typically sees newlywed brides deliberately ruin their wedding gowns in dramatic ways for pictures after their big day. Inspiration sites online suggest ideas like hiking on muddy ground, posing in nature such as by a lake or river or dousing a white gown in paint, among others.
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Maria died months after tying the knot in Quebec, Canada, when her wedding dress became heavily soaked in a river during the shoot and dragged her down into the water, causing her to drown.
'I can't anymore. It's too heavy'
Wedding photographer Louis Pagakis was taking photos of Maria, who worked as an estate agent, in the Ouareau River in Rawdon, 75 kilometres northeast of Montreal, when the weight of her dress pulled her into the current.
He went on to recall Maria's haunting final words as: "I can't anymore. It's too heavy."
He told CTV Montreal at the time: “She had her wedding dress on and she said, ‘take some pictures of me while I swim a little bit in the lake,’ she went in and her dress got heavy, I tried everything I could to save her.
“I jumped in, I was screaming and yelling, we tried our best.”
He attempted to save her, before emergency services attended the scene.
A diver found her body around two hours after the incident, where she was pronounced dead.
'I want to have fun with my wedding dress'
Family friend Leeza Pousoulidis told the Montreal Gazette at the time: “She’s a really fun girl, and she just didn’t want her wedding dress sitting in a box in the closet. She said ‘I want to have fun with my wedding dress. I want to have great pictures and memories of me in my wedding dress'."
Following the fatal incident, her relatives also issued a statement, in which they said they were 'certain' that the new bride would have 'never put her own life at risk'.
"She trusted Mr. Louis Pagakis' recommendation for the location and felt safe enough to attend the photo shoot alone with the photographers," they added.
"The family asks the municipal council of Rawdon to work on putting in place stronger security measures to avoid any future tragedies."
Topics: World News, News
James Holt