A divorcee set her wedding dress on fire in an “empowering” photo shoot to celebrate the end of her marriage.
Katlynn McKee, from Illinois, waded through mud and scorched her $1,500 (£1,200) dress after splitting up from her husband.
The couple were together for 10 years before going their separate ways last summer, which is when gutsy McKee enlisted the help of her original wedding snapper to photograph the final chapter.
The 25-year-old said the divorce photo shoot set her “free” after four years of marriage.
She said: “My relationship wasn’t a good one, so it was a relief to finally be free.
“We’d been together since I was 16 and married for four years. We grew apart.”
McKee, who has a six-year-old daughter called Faith, researched ‘Trash The Dress’ for inspiration, before hatching a plan to burn her gown while downing a bottle of wine.
She said: “I did a bit of research but all the ideas were my own and it was exactly the way I wanted to do it.
“It was like my rebellion against the marriage, my way of saying I’m free.”
McKee added: “We went out to this little area with mud and water and I had a bottle of wine and a gas canister in a basket.
“I got into the water in my dress so it was really dirty, then started ripping it up.
“I cracked open the wine, took it off and then set it on fire.
“I watched it burn while I drank the wine.”
McKee, who works as a hairdresser, said she was “empowered” by the shoot which helped her to rebuild her confidence.
The mum-of-one said: “It was very liberating, exciting and empowering.
“It actually ended up being quite sexy because I stripped down to my underwear.”
McKee even told her ex - who she hasn’t named - that she was planning on doing it, and he volunteered to be in it.
She said: “He was surprised that I was going to do it because I’m not really like that.
“He joked that he should be in it and I could punch him or something, but I wanted it to be just me.
“My friends thought it was awesome and I had loads of people getting in touch saying they wish they’d done the same thing.”
The overall shoot took two hours and McKee plans on displaying them in her new house.
She now has a new boyfriend who isn’t intimidated by the pics, saying they are “cool”.
McKee said: “I was really happy with it all and I loved the way it turned out.
“I don’t have any of display at the minute but I’m planning on it.
“I’m now happily in a new relationship and he really likes the pictures.”
