Bride Goes Ahead With Her Wedding Despite Groom’s Refusal To Show Up
A lady identified as Kayley Stead has done the unthinkable by getting married to herself after her groom failed to show up for their wedding.
Kayley had spent her life savings on her wedding and so she was not about to let it all go to waste, even without a groom.
The jilted bride discovered she wasn’t going to marry her partner of almost four years when her mother-in-law-to-be broke the news that her son had fled on the day of the wedding.
Despite the heartbreak, Kayley, 27, decided to go ahead with the big day on 15 September at Oxwich Bay Hotel in Swansea, with her loved ones around her – after spending £12k on the celebrations.
Lovingly supported by her bridal party and family, Kayley went ahead with her wedding entrance, meal, speeches, dances and even posed for professional photos without her groom.
She entered the party singing along to Lizzo’s Good As Hell with her bridal party, punched off the top tier of her wedding cake, and spent her first dance with the groomsmen, her brothers, Craig, 47, Matthew, 46, Gary, 46, and another Craig, 43, and her dad, Brian, 71.
Now living alone with no explanation from her ex (who has refused to comment) and her honeymoon cancelled, Kayley is coming to terms with what has happened.
Her friends have rallied around her, barely leaving her side and setting up a GoFundMe page to try to recoup some of the money spent on the day.
Kayley, who works as an insurance clerk and lives in Portmead, Swansea, said she saw the groom at 4 pm the day before the wedding but hasn’t heard from him since.
She said: ‘We’ve tried to reach out to him, but I’ve had no response from him, no reason why.
‘I’ve had no explanation – not that I want one now because it’s too far along the line.
‘It was an absolute shock, I had no indication he was going to do this but seeing my girls distraught as well made me want to turn the day around.
‘I didn’t want to remember the day as complete sadness.
‘The whole day, we were saying it felt like an episode of Hollyoaks or EastEnders. It didn’t feel like a real-life situation.
‘There were so many special moments, like my wedding entrance, the sparkler walk, the first dance and punching the wedding cake – so there was still happiness in the day.
‘I’d spent all this money, I’d been looking forward to the food, a dance with my dad, spending time with my family, so why not?’
Kayley and her ex had been together for almost four years and got engaged when he proposed in August 2020.
The night before the wedding, Kayley stayed in an AirBnB celebrating with her bridesmaids while the groom and his groomsmen stayed in a caravan near the venue.
Kayley said: ‘The groom and I had already agreed not to speak the night before the wedding anyway, so I didn’t know what was happening on his end, I didn’t have a clue.’
Unbeknownst to Kayley, the groom left the caravan that evening and never returned, leaving the groomsmen to contact the bridal party with the dreadful news.
