When her fiancé called off the wedding, this bride destroyed her dress in a beautiful way

It happens: People call off their weddings for a variety of reasons. Many figure out they are with the wrong person before they walk down the aisle, decide they are too young to take such a big step, are in the wrong place in their life to expect another person to share it, etc. But regardless of how an engagement comes to an end, it’s probably safe to say that the aftermath is anything but fun – that is, unless you’re Tampa, Fla.-based Kiley Manulak, whose fiancé told her via text (yes, really) that he didn’t want to marry her after a two-year engagement.

But instead of sitting around for a long period of time and asking why everything went down the way it did, after a few days, Manulak decided to celebrate moving forward by getting in her gown, having her bridesmaids don their own dresses, and attending Tampa’s Color Fun Fest – where the idea was to have a blast with her awesome friends and trash their dresses in the process.

“It was actually very liberating,” Manulak said to WFLA, an NBC affiliate. “I didn’t want to have a pity party, I just wanted to have fun with it.”

According to NBC News, the festival invites attendees to embrace a mix of electronic music and India’s Holi Festival, while throwing brightly colored powder around at each other. The girls committed 100%, covering themselves and their would-be wedding ensembles in neon-colored cornstarch. Manulak even took a proud walk across the festival stage in a move that clearly stated, “Hello, world. I’m awesome.”

Manulak also gave WFLA a message for her ex: “Thank you for sparing me anything, any heartaches down the road, and thank you for letting me go so I can find true happiness.”

Fun, class, and such strength. All the applause for Kiley Manulak. Check out a short clip of her experience below and cheer some more.

(Image via NBC News Screenshot)