Bride says she 'took her power back' after calling off wedding - by wearing dress round town to shops

A bride claims she 'took her power back' from her fiance after her wedding was called off - by wearing her DRESS around town while shopping.

Lauren Scott-Berry was due to be married on July 9 but called off her wedding after splitting up with her partner in July last year. The movement therapist decided that if her £250 silk gown wasn't going to be cooed over as she walked down the aisle, she would let it be admired in a different way. Despite feeling like her 'whole world had crumbled', the 34-year-old decided to don the strapless dress and flaunted it in a unique photoshoot around the picturesque village of Robin Hood's Bay in North Yorkshire.

Instead of traditional wedding shots, Laura stunned onlookers last month by visiting the beach, a sweet shop, ice-cream van and a children's play area - complete with bridal make-up and a tiara. Lauren revealed she wanted to 'rewrite her narrative and take some power back' so she wouldn't view her doomed relationship 'like Miss Havisham'. Miss Havisham is a character in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. She's a wealthy spinster, once jilted at the altar, who then insists on donning her wedding dress for the rest of her life.

As people saw Lauren in her dress and wished her congratulations, she says she thanked them and it felt 'really good'. Lauren, who only wore the dress for one day, is now sharing her experience to inspire other women who never made it down the aisle to enjoy their unused gowns.

One clip shared on TikTok captioned, 'I didn't take my wedding dress down the aisle so took it to the beach for an ice-cream instead', has gone viral with 220,400 views.

Lauren, who lives in Tower Hamlets, East London, said: "I was very worried that I'd never be able to look at it without viewing it as to do with the wedding; Miss Havisham-esque.

"I did think I might not ever get married but I don't want to never get to wear a wedding dress. I mainly wanted to re-write my own narrative and take some power back. I really felt like I'd lost so much. I'm in my 30s and we were talking about having children after being married. It felt like my whole future had crumbled.

"I suddenly felt like my maturity had been stripped away from me because being married is the next step in adulthood and people take you more seriously if you're a 'Mrs'. I felt like I took my power back, it was a gift. I'm happier now than I was in my relationship. I've grown in confidence a lot over the last year."

After doing a bridal photoshoot on the day her wedding was supposed to be, Lauren revealed she got the inspiration to wear her dress in more places.

Lauren said: "The dress made me feel 'princessy'. If I wasn't able to walk down the aisle I thought 'why shouldn't I get to feel like this? I don't just want to be in the living room with my mum'.

"I wanted to take it out and feel like this and it be a shared experience. I wanted to do a photoshoot in it, I filmed a few things in local places, I intend to do more. When I went out to do the photos I was really nervous because I am from a little village. I know a lot of people knew I was engaged but not everyone knew I wasn't engaged any more.

"I just didn't want people to come up to me and ask questions. I was a bit worried about that or that there'd be whispers around the village. When I stepped out I was like 'well, it doesn't matter'. Everyone was looking at me and smiling.

"Some people said 'congratulations' and I didn't even care. I just said 'thanks'. I felt really good. I do have a list. A lot of people have recommended places that they'd love to see me in."

The nine-layered, silk wedding dress of 'dreams' from a charity shop cost £250 and still made her feel 'special' despite cancelling her wedding.

Lauren said: "You always think about what you would have. Every little girl dreams of her wedding dress. When I went and picked it up from the store because I'd already paid for it, I tried it on again and just felt special. It didn't really matter that I wasn't getting married.

"The dress is so separate. Everything else we did together - we viewed the venues together, we talked about our music and everything together. My ex had obviously never seen the dress and had nothing to do with the choosing of it. It felt quite separate."

Through sharing her experience on TikTok, the singleton hopes to encourage other women to break tradition and wear their unused dresses.

Lauren said: "The response from people on TikTok has been so lovely. Strangers are telling me they're proud of me. Some people are like 'this is something I want to do'. There are other women who don't know what to do with their unused dress. Or some woman had traumatic events at their wedding and didn't get to experience it as they were supposed to. Just put it on and have a nice time, it doesn't matter if it's traditional or not."

Many users took to the comments to praise Lauren's idea.

One user wrote: "I'm incredibly proud of you, stranger."

Another user commented: "You are a princess."

One wrote: "What a magical idea and well put."

Another commented: "I just adore that 'this is my dress', 'it's my narrative'. What a queen."