"Hope and the future for me are not in lawns and cultivated fields, not in towns and cities, but in the impervious and quaking swamps." Henry David Thoreau, Walking

This most stunning of bridal shoots by ASHLEIGH COLEMAN took place alongside the Mississippi River and features beautiful gowns by INBAL DROR paired with exquisite florals by MAIDENHAIR FLORAL. Stylist SARON MITCHELL HENDERSON pulled all these elements together and the end result is just sublime. Ashleigh explains the inspiration further down the post�

Living along the Mississippi is a girl who walks with the ghosts of a time passed--the relics of ancient Greece scattered through thick southern woods and dancing in the dappled light of clearings. This is the story of a girl connected to the land--to its flora and fauna. This is the story of a girl--a devout believer in the unseen, in the other-worldly--a mystic. This is the story of a girl, who has fallen in love with a man deeply tied to his land. This is the story of a girl, an enigma, who weaves together her many loves with beauty and grace.

The scent of honeysuckle and privet swirled thickly around her as she lightly tripped down the path to their favorite meeting place. Summer warmed dirt under her bare feet. Cicadas calling out in the gloaming. Dense foliage creeping up and around. This wild place captured her imagination. And, up ahead, her love, waiting on the steps of a long abandoned church.

To pull from Clearance John Laughlin, this is the story of "a Misplaced Past," of not only the ghosts of the Old South, but also of moving forward, through those "impervious and quaking swamps" and into the hope of something yet unspoken.

Photography ASHLEIGH COLEMAN / Dresses INBAL DROR / Florals MAIDENHAIR FLORAL / Stylist SARON MITCHELL HENDERSON / Veils GIRL WITH A SERIOUS DREAM / Ring MELISSA TYSON DESIGNS / Wedding invitations THE LITTLE NORTH SEA STUDIO / Hair & make-up MOLLY GEE DESIGNS / FINE CHINA & CRYSTAL / Lighting J. BRITT LIGHTING / Model JEA MODELS / Ribbon SILK & WILLOW / Chairs LOVEGOOD RENTALS / Film Lab RICHARD PHOTO LAB