Kilee Manulak and her bridesmaids decided to wear their dresses for a 5K color run after the groom called off the wedding. Photo by Jessica Rios/All Brides 2 Be

TAMPA, Fla., Nov. 19 (UPI) -- A Tampa woman came up with a colorful way to destroy her wedding dress after her fiancé called off the ceremony.

Just days before the wedding was to take place, Kilee Manulak got a text from her boyfriend of two years saying he no longer wanted to marry her. After a few days of mourning, Manulak decided to have some fun with the situation by publicly destroying her wedding dress at Tampa's Color Fun Fest.


Manulak was joined by her bridesmaids at the event, a 5K run in which the participants are sprayed with neon paint.

The women covered their dresses in paint, and Manulak even took to the main stage.

"It was actually very liberating," she told WFLA Tampa. "I don't want a pity party. I just want to have fun with it."

Jessica Rios of All Brides 2 Be, the shop where Manulak bought the dress, attended the event at Manulak's request.

They are not sure if the color will ever come out of the dress, but Rios said that Manulak's happiness is the most important thing.

"In the end, it is her dress now, and my wish is to see her happy...which I did," Rios told UPI. "To see the smile on her face and all of her bridesmaids and family there, too, supporting her was priceless."

Manulak hopes to sell the dress if the color can be washed out and is ultimately thankful to her former fiancé for the experience.

"I definitely want to tell him thank you for sparing me heartaches down the road, and thank you for letting me go so I can find true happiness," she said.