Lifestyle

Texas Hill Country Woman’s Divorce Goes Through With a Bang

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Tony Maples Photography

 

Kimberly Santleben-Stiteler sealed the deal on her divorce in a big way – with a big bang! This Texas Hill Country woman celebrated the end of her marriage by blowing up her wedding dress. The marriage may have lasted 14 years, but it only took one shot (and 20 pounds of explosives) for it to end!

It was her father’s idea, according to media reports. And can you blame him? Santleben-Stiteler’s dad hosted a divorce party for his daughter on his ranch property in Lacoste, just west of San Antonio in the Hill Country, where friends and family witnessed her rifle shot and the subsequent explosion. She had originally wanted to simply burn the dress in an innocuous recognition of this milestone, but her father thought this to be a more fitting end. Her divorce had been finalized the day previous and 40 friends and family members were invited to her father’s ranch to support her.

Texas Hill Country Woman’s Divorce Goes Through With a Bang

Photo: Pxhere

The explosion of the wedding dress was felt throughout parts of Medina County. Video of the shot was made available on a number of social media sites. 20 pounds of Tannerite were used for the blast, and Santleben-Stiteler took aim from 200 yards away. The reasoning was part symbolism and part sound, literally, as she told star-telegram.com: “I wanted to remove all things from our marriage from our house. Photos in the attic, ring in the safe (but probably going to sell it) and the dress I wanted to burn…I had a lot of advice and suggestions from friends and family…However, to me, the dress represented a lie. I wanted to have a divorce party to burn the dress.” The symbolic end the explosion brought for the new divorcee was apparent. She described it as akin to being on a film set for an action movie and noted that the explosion was huge.