TRASH
THE DRESS SHORTLY AFTER MANDY HARDING GOT MARRIED 11 YEARS AGO, SHE RALLIED UP SOME PHOTOGRAPHER FRIENDS, AND FRIENDS WHO WERE RECENTLY MARRIED TO DO A GROUP TRASH THE DRESS PHOTOSHOOT. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN, THEY DECIDED TO DO IT AGAIN THE FOLLOWING YEAR TO RAISE MONEY FOR CHARITY. LITTLE DID THEY KNOW 10 YEARS LATER, THEIR EVENT WOULD RAISE OVER $169,300 FOR THE JIM PATTISON CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL OF SASKATCHEWAN FOUNDATION. In 2010, The Children’s Hospital Foundation had just announced that a new Children’s Hospital was coming to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, the first in the province. When brainstorming charities to receive the donations from the event, it was decided that a children’s charity would be ideal, since most people have a special little person in their lives. With the announcement of this new, much needed, facility in our province, it didn’t take long to decide that the CHF would be the perfect recipient of our event’s donations. Harding along with her PPOC mentor Gina Yesnik decided it would be best to keep the photographer list to PPOC members to ensure the brides would get the best quality and value from the photographers. Each bride also received hair, makeup, and limo transportation from Living
Skies Limousine to three top-secret locations on the day, all donated from local businesses. The brides also got to work with each photographer for 20 minutes and were delivered 10 images from each photographer on USB. The first year was a huge hit and $3,600 was raised collectively. The following year the group wanted to raise even more money so they asked each bride for a minimum donation of $600 which could be donated from them personally or given from their friends and family. Brides were asked to fundraise more, and in return for all their hard efforts, the bride who raised the most amount of money would win a grand prize. It consisted of a suite at the Sheraton Cavalier, plus dinner at a high-end restaurant, a spa package among many other gifts from local businesses. This was an excellent incentive to get the brides to spend a little more time on fundraising. Over the years the photographers have gotten more local businesses on board with donating amazing swag bags to each bride as well as beefing up the grand prize. In 2018 a record was set with the top fundraising bride, Brittany Johnston, who raised over $16,000 for the CHF, making the total that year over $34,000 alone. This year is their 10th year putting on the event and they
SUMMER 2020 | GALLERIE MAGAZINE | 15
By Mandy Harding
