Steel Magnolias: Filming Locations in Natchitoches, Louisiana

The film opens on Shelby's wedding day, and the Eatenton family home is where the morning plays out: Drum Eatenton fires a gun loaded with blanks to scare the birds out of the trees before the reception. Cameras rolled in Natchitoches from July to early September 1988, and many scenes were shot in this house and its gardens. It is the Eatenton home at 320 Jefferson Street. In 2003 it became the Steel Magnolia House Bed and Breakfast.

Visitor guidance: Now a bed and breakfast at 320 Jefferson Street; look from the street unless you are staying as a guest.

Shelby's wedding is the day the story begins, and the church is St. Augustine Catholic Church near Melrose, on LA Highway 493 in the Cane River country. It has a history of its own: it is the oldest surviving Black Catholic church in the United States, and the building seen today was completed in 1917. The Natchitoches tourist board calls it the historic setting for Shelby's wedding.

Visitor guidance: On LA Highway 493 near Melrose, a short drive from Natchitoches.

Front Street is the postcard face of Natchitoches, and the town's tourist board says the film's famous street scenes were shot here, with Cane River Lake behind them. The Blanchard Building in the 700 block, next to Ducournau Square, played Truvy's second salon. The story later moves on to a Christmas festival. The lake began as a bend of the Red River; when the river shifted, it left a 33-mile oxbow lake.

Location precision: The film does not name one spot for its street scenes; the pin marks Ducournau Square on Front Street, next to the Blanchard Building.

Visitor guidance: Walk the river walk on Front Street; shops and cafés line the street.

Shelby's funeral was filmed at American Cemetery on Second Street, between Demeziere Street and the railroad tracks. After breaking down in grief at the funeral, M'Lynn is pulled back by Clairee's shenanigans, and a good laugh helps her begin to accept her daughter's choice. The cemetery is a place to look and move on quietly.

The story ends at the town's Easter egg hunt, filmed at Beau Jardin in the 800 block of Washington Street. In the middle of the hunt Annelle goes into labor and is rushed to the hospital. She wants to name her baby after Shelby, even if it is a boy, because she met her husband at Shelby's wedding reception.

Location precision: The film trail lists the 800 block of Washington Street; the pin marks Beau Jardin in Natchitoches and the exact lawn is not given.

Visitor guidance: The film trail lists the 800 block of Washington Street; check access before you go.