Woman goes viral setting wedding dress ablaze in divorce photoshoot
A North Carolina divorcee set her wedding dress and the internet on fire during a controversial TikTok video that brought her plenty of heat.
Mom of two Lauren Brooke, who asked The Post to use her middle name but not her surname out of “concerns” for her family’s safety, attracted 6 millions viewers — and plenty of critics — to her March 26 video.
“I’ve been called a narcissist and attention-seeking, and people are saying I was the problem,” Brooke said. “The photo shoot wasn’t celebrating the divorce itself – it was celebrating the fact that I survived it.”
Brooke, 31, fell in love with her future husband when the two attended the same Baptist church growing up.
The young couple tied the knot in October 2012.
But the marriage deteriorated – in part because of the demands of her unnamed hubby’s job in the Army National Guard.
“It can be difficult to be a military wife…The pressures from his job put a strain on the marriage,” she lamented.
In North Carolina, a couple must be legally separated for a year and a day before they can get a divorce. After nine years of rocky matrimony, in September 2021, a fed-up Brooke filed separation papers, but still hoped to work things out.
The year was “an emotional rollercoaster” and ended with the divorce being finalized in January.
Brooke decided to turn a new leaf – by burning up the remnants of her failed marriage — and even bringing her new beau along for the spectacle.
With her professional photographer mom behind the camera, Brooke lit her wedding dress on fire.
“What else was I going to do with my wedding dress? It couldn’t be returned and I wouldn’t want to give it to my daughter – not after the way it ended. So why not burn it?” Brooke explained.
Wearing high heels, she also stomped on photos of her and her ex in happier times.
“It was great to see her laughing — the year had been extremely difficult with so many emotions trying to navigate a new normal,” her mom Felicia said.
But Brooke isn’t rushing back to the altar any time soon.
“I honestly don’t know that I’ll ever get married again,” Brooke said. “I’m just at a place where I’m happy, I’m content and I’m no longer sad or heartbroken. I’m focusing on me, my kids and my current relationship.”