Weddings are full of both traditions and modern trends.
Whether its the longstanding tradition of the exchanging of rings or something more up-to-date like candid cameras or having a friend give you away - newlyweds adore adding those little flourishes that make their wedding stand out from the rest.
On trend that took off over the last decade was a "trash the dress" photoshoot.
Now, for generations, many of our relatives would have carefully stored their wedding dresses away in the attic. After all, for most people, it is perhaps the most expensive item of clothing they'll ever buy.
However, in recent years, some brides have opted to celebrate their dress by totally destroying it.
With a photographer on-hand, brides would don their dress and wear it in an unconventional messy setting - such as rolling around in mud or getting covered in paint. The end result is a series of fun phots that are supposed to contrast the usual elegance of wedding dress photos.
But sadly, for one bride, this departure from tradition sadly ended in tragedy.
On June 9, 2012, 30-year-old bride Maria Pantazopoulos was supposed to be celebrating the happiest day of her life.
After marrying husband Billy earlier in the day - with photos from the event showing the couple smiling and surrounded by confetti - it came time for Maria to pose for her "trash the dress" photoshoot with photographer Louis Pagakis.
The bride had entered the Ouareau River near Dorwin Falls in Rawdon, Montreal, in order to perform the newly popular rite of passage. Pantazopoulos had not been accompanied by any family members during the shoot.
However, while posing for photos, Maria's wedding dress became too heavy in the water, CTV News reported at the time.
The bride - who is described as being "small of stature" and weighing around 100lbs - quickly became overwhelmed when she was pulled to the bottom of the water by a current. In that particular section, the water was said to be around eight meters deep.
Pagakis said of the moment: "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," the photographer added.
According to the Toronto Sun, the bride's heartbreaking final words to the photographer were: "I can't anymore, it's too heavy."
The tragedy unfolded at around 2:00PM, with the bride's body finally being recovered roughly four hours later.
CTV Montreal reported at the time that another photographer, Mario Michaud, came forward after the tragedy to reveal that a bride he was shooting nearly suffered a similar fate months before at the same spot.
Per the Daily Mail, Maria's family later released a statement calling for stronger safety measures to be put in place.
"One thing we are certain about is that our Maria would have never put her life at risk," the bride's family said in their statement. "Her love for life, for her husband and for her family would never allow it.
"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."
Speaking on behalf of the Quebec provincial police, Sgt. Ronald McInnis said: "She was doing the photo shoot in about six inches or one foot of water when part of her wedding dress got soaked and became extremely heavy.
"She started slipping and falling down when the photographer grabbed her but she was too heavy that he couldn't pull her from the edge."
"It's horrible," McInnis added. "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."
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