After Her Fiancé Left Her At The Altar, This Bride Took The World’s Best Photo Shoot

Shelby Swink, 23, met her ex-fiancé in college back in 2011 and they hit it off right away. The two were happily engaged by March 2014, planning for a November wedding.

“I poured my heart and soul into the wedding plans, because I wanted the day that would celebrate our love and commitment for each other to be absolutely amazing,” Swink told

But when the week of the wedding arrived, Swink’s then-fiancé told her that he was not in love with her and didn’t want to get married.

“Bam. My dreams of marrying and having kids with what I thought was the man I would spend the rest of my life with vanished,” she said.

“I was in complete shock and had no idea what to think or do. I was numb. The next few days were a blur of calling guests and canceling vendors.”
Swink said she was lucky to have her friends and family supporting her, but none of them knew what to do or how to act when what was supposed to be her wedding day rolled around.
But she knew one thing for certain: “A pity party was the farthest thing from what I wanted or needed,” she said.
So the wedding photographer brought up an idea to have a “trash the dress” photo shoot where they would ruin her wedding dress and take fun, nontraditional photos in rebellion.
“At first it sounded crazy, but after really thinking about it, I knew that it was the perfect thing for me,” Swink said. “After all, it was just a dress, a material item.”