Remember the episode of Sex and the City when Carrie registers at Manolo Blahnik in recognition of her just-announced marriage to herself? It was a joke, and a dig at the small fortune she had spent on celebrating other people's weddings and baby showers. But women - and men - marrying themselves is becoming a bit of a thing.
An Italian fitness instructor recently married herself in a £8,700 ceremony, surrounded by 70 of her friends and family. Laura Mesi didn't hold back with any of the usual trappings of a wedding ceremony either - she had the gown, the bouquet, and a cake thoughtfully topped with a figurine of (you guessed it) herself. She told La Repubblica "I told friends and family that if I had not found my soul-mate by my 40th birthday I would marry myself" and went as far as inscribing the words 'sposa single' (single spouse) on a watermelon, just to really get the message across.
Although Mesi claims to be the first Italian woman to marry herself, earlier this year an Italian man (who incidentally had also just hit 40) enjoyed a similar ceremony. Really pushing the boat out, Nello Ruggiero made himself the happiest man in the world by saying 'yes' to himself after arriving at his wedding venue on a white horse. The guests apparently thought they were attending his birthday party, so it would've been a pretty weird evening for everyone involved.
**WATCH NOW: The Debrief Presents How To Make A Microwave Cake **
The thing that these 'weddings' have in common is that they followed painful breakups (in Mesi's case, the end of a 12-year relationship), so you have to wonder what inspired the decision to self-marry. Indignance at being single? Seeing your mates getting married and feeling left out? Or just wanting to throw the party of a lifetime? If it's the latter, then how peculiar to throw all that money at the wedding industry, of all things. With the average wedding reportedly now costing £30,000 (according to Brides magazine) - essentially a house deposit - why not take yourself to dinner instead, or treat yourself to a massage.
Mesi said 'I firmly believe that each of us must first of all love ourselves.You can have a fairytale even without the prince'. She's absolutely right about loving yourself, but why should marriage even come into that at all? Anyway, Laura did take herself on a honeymoon to Egypt following the wedding, so here's hoping she returns more in love with herself than ever.
We're all for self-love but you don't need to spend money on a massive wedding to be good to yourself guys.
Photo by Micaela Martini (see her Facebook)
Like this? You may also enjoy:
Dating is fundamentally unbalanced, meet the woman who's levelling the playing field
Follow Grace on Twitter @graceallen100
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.