An Italian woman has married herself, complete with dress and three-tier cake, in front of 70 guests after a long-term relationship ended.
Laura Mesi, a fitness trainer, said the idea came to her two years ago when her 12-year relationship ended.
The 40-year-old says she knows solo weddings won’t be for everyone and to marry yourself you need a ‘certain amount of money’, the support of those around you, and – above all – ‘a pinch of madness’ the BBC reports.
Laura said:
I firmly believe that each of us must first of all love ourselves.
You can have a fairytale even without the prince.
While Laura is ‘legally married’, she is part of a growing trend for self-marriage – dubbed ‘sologamy’ – in countries around the world.
She told La Repubblica:
I told friends and family that if I had not found my soulmate by my 40th birthday I would marry myself.
If one day I find a man with whom I can plan a future I’ll be happy, but my happiness does not depend on him.
Laura isn’t the first Italian to marry herself, in May, Nello Ruggiero married himself in a ceremony in Naples.
In the US, website I Married Me offers self-wedding kits and in Canada there is an agency called Marry Yourself Vancouver.
According to the BBC Laura has brushed off the negative comments, saying ‘nothing and no one can turn off my smile’.
Congratulations to the happy… singleton.
