A newlywed drowned after she was pulled under water as she posed in a lake in her wedding dress.
Maria Pantazopoulos died after her dress became saturated and heavy as she swam by the picturesque Dorwin Falls in Rawdon, north of Montreal.
She had tied the knot on June 9 and was posing for the pictures as part of a ritual known as “trash the dress” – where the bride is photographed ruining her wedding dress.
Photographer Louis Pagakis jumped into the water to try and save her.
He told CTV News: “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.”
Family friend Leeza Pousoulidis told the Montreal Gazette: “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’.”