Maria Pantazopoulos tragically drowned during a ‘trash the dress’ photo shoot in Montreal
Jude Jones and Jane Lavender Associate Editor
08:00, 02 Dec 2025
Maria Pantazopoulos died in the tragedy(Image: Facebook/Laura M)
When a young woman perished in heartbreaking circumstances mere weeks following her nuptials, local police sergeant Ronald McInnis cautioned “this is a story that is going to go all around the world.”
Maria Pantazopoulos, 30, exchanged vows with her beloved Billy on June 9, 2012.
Within a matter of months she had died, horrifically drowning in her own bridal gown after speaking some chilling final words.
The Canadian-Greek property agent had been hoping to participate in the viral “trash the dress” phenomenon at the time of her death, where newly-wed brides destroy their wedding gowns in extravagant ways for their social media accounts.
The images are “symbolic, representing the end of the wedding and [the bride]’s transformation of a bride to a wife”, according to Wikipedia, reports the Mirror.
Inspiration pages on websites like Brides.com suggest techniques such as dousing the gown in paint or, ominously, diving into a remote lagoon.
It was something similar to this that Mrs Pantazopoulos had envisioned when she employed photographer Louis Pagakis to oversee her session.
She was taking part in the trash the dress viral trend(Image: Getty Images)
He proposed that they capture the images at Ouareau River near Dorwin Falls in Montreal, a rapidly-flowing, 60ft-tall cascade which, according to Indigenous legend, was once the location of a mystical battle between a saintly nun and an evil sorcerer. He suggested they locate a secluded area where they could photograph without disruption.
Mr Pagakis remembered Mrs Pantazopoulos posing in the moss-covered waters surrounding the waterfall before deciding she fancied swimming deeper into the pool. He said: “She had her wedding dress on and said, ‘take some pictures of me while I swim a little bit in the lake.'”.
However, there was one deadly oversight in their strategy. Mrs Pantazopoulos had selected a weightier bridal gown whose fabric rapidly became drenched with water.
The tremendous mass dragged Mrs Pantazopoulos beneath the surface and rendered swimming impossible. Mr Pagakis continues to recall Mrs Pantazopoulos’s haunting final words: “I can’t anymore. It’s too heavy.”
Although he instantly plunged into the water to assist, Mr Pagakis couldn’t rescue Maria owing to the gown’s mass. A diving team retrieved her body from the lake bed several hours afterwards.
Following the devastating death, her relatives issued an official statement. It read: “One thing we are certain about is that our Maria would have never put her 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. The family asks the municipal council of Rawdon to work on putting in place stronger security measures to avoid any future tragedies.”
Back in 2015, a similar incident became an internet sensation when newlywed Amy Zuno was captured on camera leaping from a boat towards her husband Eric whilst still wearing her wedding gown. However, the dress rapidly became waterlogged, causing Mrs Zuno to plunge beneath the surface.
Her mates can be heard shouting “Find her!” and “Pull her dress up!” in the background of the clip. Eventually, Mrs Zuno’s head emerged above the water once more, clearly relieved.
Speaking about the incident later, the bride reportedly said: “I don’t regret it.”