Five days before Memphian Shelby Swink was supposed to be married, her fiance told her he wasn’t in love with her and didn’t want to go through with the wedding.
As her wedding date approached, Swink wasn’t sure what to do with herself. And then, at the suggestion of her wedding photographer Elizabeth Hoard, she decided to turn her heartbreak into artwork.
Armed with plastic bottles of colorful paint, Swink and her parents and bridesmaids ceremoniously trashed her wedding dress and the bridesmaids’ dresses. Hoard photographed their paint party, and the photos (as well as Swink’s full story) can be found on Offbeat Bride and Buzzfeed.
Her dress is on display at The Barefoot Bride in Memphis, and beginning in January 2015, a portion of the proceeds from every wedding dress sold there while Swink’s dress is on display will be donated to Be Free Revolution, a Memphis-based nonprofit that aims to helps other women learn how to find their inner strength.
Elizabeth Hoard Photography
