Woman Weds Herself After Spending Years Saving For Dream Wedding

A woman who had saved for her dream wedding for 20 years used the money to throw herself a wedding after failing to find the right partner.

Sarah Wilkinson, 42, decided to have a wedding ceremony officiated by a friend at Harvest House in Felixstowe, Suffolk, on September 30.

The credit controller explained that the event was a natural progression after she purchased an engagement ring for herself.

She said: “It was a lovely day for me to be the centre of attention.

“The ceremony wasn’t an official wedding, but I had my wedding day.

“I think you get to the point where you think ‘I might not have this with a partner by my side, but why should I miss out?’

“That money was reserved for my wedding – it was a case of it’s there and why not use it for something I want to do.”

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Ms Wilkinson, a resident of the town, claimed that she spent £10,000 on the celebration after making monthly savings and adding any additional windfalls.

For the ceremony, the bride was surrounded by 40 of her closest family and friends, and another 40 people joined her for the reception at the tennis club across the street.

The woman told BBC Radio Suffolk that when her friends learned of her plan to stage her own wedding, they were not shocked.

She said: “No one stopped smiling all day and everyone said what an amazing time they had.

“Nearly every single one said ‘That’s such a Sarah thing to do’.”

Ms Wilkinson said she wrote 14 vows for her to keep, the first of which was to never give up control of the TV remote.

The woman said she got the idea for the wedding when she was 40 and decided to buy herself the diamond engagement ring she had always wanted.

She wore a white sequined gown to her wedding and had a tiered cake topped with a figurine of a bride kissing a frog. Her mother was the one who led her down the aisle.

The ceremony was officiated by her friend, professional wedding planner Katherine Cresswell.

“As much as it was about Sarah, it was about bringing everyone together,” said Ms Cresswell.

“There’s always a need to celebrate and I think we need it more than ever right now.”

Even though she had the ideal wedding day, Ms Wilkinson said she had not ruled out meeting potential future husbands.

“Not at all… but it was just a case of giving up looking because it’s a lot of effort,” she said.