Following the finalization of her divorce, Wendy Lewis decided the best way she could celebrate was to fire a gun – at her wedding dress. So she gathered up a group of her closest friends and headed to Nevada. All part of the “divorce celebration weekend” put together by divorce party planner Glynda Rhodes, 51.
Divorce Parties
Ms. Rhodes, a long-time party planner used to specialize in putting together bachelor and bachelorette parties. But as the divorce rate started to grow, Ms. Rhodes started to receive new requests – from both men and women – for parties celebrating the end of a marriage. In 2012 she launched The Divorce Party Planner and has been successful ever since. In addition to shooting trips, Ms. Rhodes also arranges nightclub entry for divorcees, restaurants at tables, rounds of golf, strip shows, and skydives for people looking to “jump right back into being single”.
Growing Trend
But parties aren’t the only way people celebrate the end of their not-so-blissful marriages. Couples can now order “divorce cakes.” Some specialties offered at Elite Cake Creations in Florida include golf-bag shaped cakes reading “free at last, going golfing,” and a bride dragging her groom by the leg accompanied by a sign that reads “take him to the trash”.
Good Thing?
While people celebrate, it leads experts wondering, “should they?” According to psychologist Robin Deutsch, director of the Centre of Excellence for Children, Families and the Law, these new ways of celebrating are a “development that should be welcomed.” According to her, “The growth of the divorce [celebration] industry speaks to the fact that people want to acknowledge loss through ritual.”
Source: BBC News, The red hot business of divorce celebration, November 12 2014