Bride died just weeks after getting married when ‘trash the dress’ trend went wrong
The case of a bride who tragically died while taking part in a dangerous wedding trend has recently re-emerged.
Just weeks after Maria Pantazopoulos tied the knot with her husband Billy on 9 June, 2012, the 30-year-old's family were forced to arrange her funeral after she decided to take part in the so-called 'trash the dress' trend.
The trend sees newlyweds totally destroying their white dress in an elaborate fashion before sharing the results online.
While some brides opt to launch colourful paint all over the gown in which they said 'I do', others have been seen rolling around in mud.
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Canadian-born Pantazopoulos became inspired by a different idea altogether following her summer wedding 13 years ago, and even hired a photographer to capture shots of the moment.
Along with creative photographer Louis Pagakis, she ventured to the picturesque location of Ouareau River near Dorwin Falls in Rawdon, Montreal, in August of that year.
She'd planned to soak the dress in the mossy waters of the falls while capturing some beautiful pictures in the meantime.
Sadly, however, one aspect of the plan that went tragically wrong was the sheer weight of her wedding dress.
After posing for several pictures, she opted to lay down in the water collected at the bottom of the waterfalls, and never came back up for air.
The bride was dragged down as deep as eight metres, after which Pagakis dove in in an attempt to rescue her.
Despite reaching his client, however, he found the dress too heavy to pull back up to the surface.
"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," Pagakis later told CTV News in a devastating interview.
"I jumped in, I was screaming and yelling, we tried our best."
The photographer also revealed that prior to being dragged beneath the water she uttered her final words: "I can't anymore, it's too heavy."
Pantazopoulos' body was recovered by responding officers several hours after she was pulled under.
Her family, including her heartbroken new husband, later released an official statement on their loss.
"One thing we are certain about is that our Maria would have never put her life at risk," the statement read.
"She trusted Mr. Louis Pagakis' recommendation for the location and felt safe enough to attend the photo shoot alone with the photographers.
"The family asks the municipal council of Rawdon to work on putting in place stronger security measures to avoid any future tragedies."
Sgt. Ronald McInnis, of Quebec provincial police, also couldn't believe the loss.
He said: "This is the first time I've heard of a story like that.
"I told my partner, this is a story that is going to go all around the world."
Topics: Wedding, Sex and Relationships, Life, Real Life, True Life
Rhianna Benson