WATCH: Jilted bride trashes wedding dress in colourful fashion
Five days before the wedding, Shelby Swink's fiance told her he didn't love her.
He told her he didn't want to marry her. Neither did he want to spend the rest of his life with her.
"I was in complete shock and had no idea what to think or do. I was numb," Miss Swink, 23, wrote on offbeatbride.com.
The wedding was called off and she spent the next few days cancelling services and calling up guests to tell them about the change in plans.
But instead of moping around, Miss Swink decided to trash her wedding dress in a truly spectacular fashion - to signify overcoming an adversity.
Miss Swink, her parents and the bridesmaids got dressed in their wedding finery, which they then ruined with copious amounts of paint.
And she got the wedding photographer to capture the moment.
She wrote:
"The moment the paint hit my dress… I was free.
"All the disappointment, all the hurt… I just felt it leave me. I can't even describe how liberating and cathartic the experience was for me.
"I let go of all the hurt and became myself again."
Said Miss Swink: "We all face adversity in our lives, but what really defines us is how we decide to overcome that adversity. I decided that I will not let this tragedy and heartbreak consume me, and bring me down in life."
And the dress trashing wasn't just for fun.
The colourful garment is now on display at a bridal store in Tennessee, US.
A portion of proceeds from each dress purchased from the store( while Miss Swink's dress is on display) will be donated to a non-profit organisation that helps other women find their inner strength.
Sources: offbeatbride.com, Facebook/Shelby Swink
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