Raise a glass for the (un)happy bride and groom

 (Photo: Roger Kirby)

If you thought you'd had enough of the endless engagement/wedding/anniversary/more anniversary parties, then look away now, because apparently divorce celebrations are the latest phenomenon to hit the US.

Not only do you have to fork out for weekends away in Mallorca with people you don't really know pre-wedding, the new trend is to hang out with your newly divorced friend on a cringey package holiday adapted to fit all their post-nuptial needs.

Heralded as "a great way for divorcees to end their marriage with the same amount of excitement and celebration that they started it with," the hope is that fresh singletons will find freedom through events tailored to give them a new start, and their lucky friends get to come along for the ride.

Packages offered by The Divorce Party Planner, launched in 2012 by Glynda Rhodes, range from "Barely Survived", which gets you entry to a night club and bottle service, to "All About Me", including a boudoir photo shoot and free cocktails.

It all began with a request from one new divorcee to visit a shooting range. She provided her own target: her wedding dress.

"She brought her wedding dress into the shooting range and hung it up," Rhodes recalled in an interview with the BBC.

"Oh if you could have seen the look on her face when she was shooting at her dress. You could just feel that she was letting all that anger out."

Other bespoke parties held by Rhodes have seen people jump out of airplanes as a symbolic conquering of the fear of being single, launch their wedding rings into the air attached to balloons and even shoot paintballs at photos of their ex-spouses.

Her company also sells its own merchandise, including t-shirts reading: "I kissed the wrong frog" and "Doormat no more", and the idea has taken off across America.

It doesn't yet seem to be too much of a trend in the UK, but there are companies offering special fancy dress to mark the occasion (zombie bride is a personal favourite), as well as 'Just Divorced' banners and black balloons. 

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