A woman in Texas held a party to celebrate after her divorce was finalised. But it was the grand finale that caught everyone’s attention.

Kimberly Santleben-Stitele gathered her friends and family at her father’s farmhouse on November 10 and ended things with a bang by blowing up her wedding dress. She filled the dress with explosives and shot it with a rifle to put the memories of her 14-year marriage to rest. The explosion ended up being so powerful that it was felt and heard up to 24 kilometres away.

“I wanted to remove all things from our marriage from our house,” Santleben-Stiteler told Star-Telegram. “Photos in the attic ring in the safe (but probably going to sell it) and the dress I wanted to burn.