An Italian bride has ditched the traditional two-person approach to marriage by hosting a bizarre solo wedding.
Lissone resident Laura Mesi invited 70 guests to a farmhouse in Vimercate, north of Milan, Monday to see her walk down the aisle resplendent in a Swarovski diamond encrusted wedding dress – the only thing missing, however, was a groom.
Mesi told Il Giorno national newspaper that she made the decision to marry herself after failing to find a suitable husband before the age of 40.
Known as ‘sologamy,’ advocates of self-marriage claim the non-legally binding union can help foster a better understanding of oneself and “harmonize your external relationships.”
“I feel [like] a healthy person… and happy and I have a good opinion of myself,” Mesi said following a lavish ceremony involving a three tier wedding cake.
“Some people might criticize me, but I’m convinced that I have done nothing wrong. I’m so happy and above all I crowned my dream.”
The single spouse admitted that she could marry someone in the future, but she said that her happiness does not depend on it.