A Tennessee woman has gained worldwide attention after turning her heartbreak into artwork when she teamed up with her would-be wedding photographer to capture the destruction of her gown.
Shelby Swink planned to marry her fiancé in November 2014, when he suddenly called off the wedding.
“My ex-fiancé kind of sat me down and told me he was contemplating calling off the wedding,” Swink told CNN. “The next day came and he sat me down and was like, you know, I’m just not in love with you and I don’t want to marry you. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Swink said she was heartbroken, but didn’t want people to pity her.
That’s when wedding photographer Elizabeth Hoard suggested Swink trash her dress.
“First I thought I was crazy because it is an expensive dress and I didn’t really want to ruin it,” Swink said. “I don’t want to just spend my would-be wedding day sitting at home alone eating ice cream and watching Netflix.”
So, on what would have been her wedding day, Swink met with friends, family and a myriad of different colored paints to create what would become a photo shoot seen by millions.
“Most women I think would be crushed, be stopped by that, and that saying goes life gives you lemons what do you do? And Shelby made a big old glass of freaking lemonade,” Hoard said.
The dress is now on display at The Barefoot Bride shop in Memphis.
“I saw what she did to kind of get her feelings out and celebrate the day that would have been her wedding day as the day that’s going to be the next chapter in her life. It just made me want to have the dress in the shop to kind of remind girls that that’s really what it’s about,” Joelle Scholl with the shop told CNN.
CNN contributed to this report.