Kimberly Santleben-Stiteler said the dress had to burn because it ‘represented a lie’.
A woman celebrated her new single status in explosive fashion – by blowing up her wedding dress at her divorce party.
Kimberly Santleben-Stiteler held a celebration with family and friends on Saturday night to mark the end of her 14-year marriage.
And the centrepiece of the event in La Coste, Texas saw her loading up her wedding dress with explosives before shooting it with a rifle.
The ensuing explosion would apparently be felt up to 15 miles away.
Carla Santleben-Newport, Kimberley’s sister, told the Press Association: “My sister’s divorce was finalised on Friday and (she) wanted to burn her wedding dress, so my dad and husband took care of things.
Kimberly felt her wedding dress ‘represented a lie’ (Carla Santleben-Newport)
“They filled her dress with 20lbs of Tannerite and she shot it with a .308 rifle creating a beautiful and loud experience.
“We had Facebook comments and text messages of people hearing the noise in a 15-mile radius. It was a great way to celebrate her divorce.”
Kimberly, 43, told the Centre Daily Times that she was determined to burn it because “the the dress represented a lie”.
The occasion was suitably festive (Carla Santleben-Newport)
Once the explosion idea was hit upon, some preparation was needed – for one thing, Kimberly was no expert with guns.
To ensure everyone was safe when the dress went boom, the party – and therefore the shot that set off the explosion – was about 200 yards away from the dress itself.
And that was no easy shot.
Kimberly got plenty of practice in to make sure she nailed that first shot (Carla Santleben-Newport)
“We have a friend who is a bomb tech and he kept saying, ‘that’s really a lot (of explosives)’, like five different times when we told him our plan,” Carla said.
“My dad and husband set the dress up at 100 yards from the barn on our family farm. Everyone was worried it was too close so they moved it out another 100 yards.
“Kimberly is not a hunter so James, my husband, practised with her that afternoon. She did absolutely amazing hitting the dress on her first shot and blowing her dress to pieces.”
Got it in one (Carla Santleben-Newport)
The moment certainly seemed to go down well with the assembled family and friends – and for Kimberly it was every bit as cathartic as she hoped.
“It was liberating pulling that trigger,” she told the Centre Daily Times. “It was closure for all of us.”
DALLAS (AP) — The fastest-growing city in the U.S. last year was a Dallas suburb that saw its population jump by nearly a third.
The number of residents in Princeton, located about 46 miles (74 kilometers) north of Dallas, increased from about 28,000 to 37,000 from 2023 to 2024, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday. The growth has come so quickly that the city — which more than doubled its population since 2020 — has struggled to build roads and infrastructure fast enough as it transforms from a farming community.
Princeton Mayor Eugene Escobar Jr. said that when he first moved to the area over a decade ago, there were just two stoplights, and they had to do their shopping in the next town over. Princeton now has several stoplights and a Walmart, he said, but has had to implement a temporary moratorium on new home construction so infrastructure can keep pace.
Cities of all sizes grew on average from 2023 to 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's Vintage 2024 estimates, with New York City, Houston and Los Angeles seeing the greatest numeric gains and some cities in the Northeast and Midwest marking their first population increase in recent years.
The U.S. Census Bureau said that two cities in that time period crossed the 1 million-population threshold: Fort Worth, Texas, and Jacksonville, Florida.
Fort Worth now joins three other Texas cities topping that mark: Dallas with a population of about 1.3 million, San Antonio at about 1.5 million and Houston at about 2.4 million.
Escobar said affordability has been the main draw to the area, which still has a small-town feel even as housing developments have blanketed the area.
“It’s still cheaper to commute and live in Princeton than maybe live closer to work,” Escobar said.
Median home values there, according to a news release from the city, are around $325,000, which is much lower than nearby suburbs.
In addition to Princeton, three other cities in Collin County — Celina, Anna and Melissa — were also among the 15 fastest-growing cities in the U.S. Over the last decade or so, major companies have flocked to Dallas’ booming suburbs, fueling a rapid transformation.
A water tower bears the name of the town, Princeton, Texas, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Javier Ortiz rolls up a barrier while laying fiber optic cable in Princeton, Texas, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
A water tower bears the name of the town, Princeton, Texas, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Construction workers build apartments in Princeton, Texas, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
A worker's Texas themed boots sit in the grass as a crew works laying fiber optic cable in Princeton, Texas, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Traffic is seen in Princeton, Texas, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
A water tower bears the name of the town, Princeton, Texas, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
FILE - People walk down the sidewalk in the Fort Worth Stockyards, in Forth Worth, Texas, Monday, March 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
