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Woman throws wedding-themed birthday party because she’s sick of seeing friends get married


Michele on her ‘wedding day’ (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)

When you’re single and your Facebook feed is filled with nothing but engagement updates, it’s hard not to think ‘when will it be my turn?’

But one mum was so tired of waiting for her big day, she decided just to marry herself at a wedding-themed birthday party.

To celebrate her 36th birthday, Michele Plum invited her friends and family to her ‘wedding’ – despite not even dating anyone.

While many were baffled that she was ‘marrying herself’, Michele claims it was done to celebrate that she is content on her own and show she doesn’t need a partner to be happy.

Michele walked down the high street wearing her extravagent bridal dress while on her birthday night out while pictures capture her in it in bars and even grabbing a late night takeaway.

In the invitation to ‘Michele’s wedding’, she wrote: ‘I’m 36 on the 16th August this year and have made it all this way without marrying anyone! Well done me!

‘So, seeing as I have no intentions to do so for real, I want to have a wedding.

Michele bought her dress in a charity shop Kennedy News and Media

‘Please come in your best s**t bridesmaid dresses, your own wedding dress, cheesy suit, or as Elvis. Whatever.’

Michele, from Horsham, West Sussex, said: ‘It was certainly the sort of wedding I’ve always dreamed of.

‘What’s better than to be surrounded by all my friends and family in a huge polyester gown?

‘And I don’t even have to go home and live with a man for the rest of my life.

‘We met at a pub in Brighton with virtual reality booth. It all went beautifully.

‘The message behind this is that I’m independent and strong. I’ve tried to teach my daughter that she doesn’t need a partner if she doesn’t want one.

‘With hard work, enjoying life and having good friends and family, you don’t need to be dependant on someone else.

‘I’m happy now, but I never say never because you never know who’s going to come into your life.’

After years of watching her friends and family settling down, Michele realised she only enjoyed weddings for the dresses and party, so she decided just to enjoy the things she loves.

Michele said: ‘When I go a wedding now, I just love the dress and the fact they get a big party.

‘That’s the bit about marriage I like – not the having to live with somebody for the rest of my life bit.

She said she loves weddings because of the dresses and party – so she wanted to embrace those things (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)

‘The idea came from a lady down in Brighton who married herself a couple of years ago. I thought that was brilliant and so funny.

‘Plus the fact all my friends were getting married and having babies.

‘A couple of my lesbian friends got married in recent years, and my younger brother. But there’s babies everywhere.

‘I became a single mum in my early twenties. I’ve done all the hard parenting stuff and now I’m free.

‘My life’s brilliant. I have no intention of settling down.’

After running the eccentric idea by her best friends, party-loving Michele decided on her wedding day theme.

A month before, she dragged a few of her friends to a local charity shop, where she discovered a treasure trove of bridal attire.

Michele said: ‘I told a couple of my friends my idea and they agreed I should do it, that it was really funny.

‘I bought my dress from the St Catherine’s Hospice shop in Horsham. They’ve devoted the whole upstairs to bridal dresses. It’s set up really nice.

‘I went in there with my friends and we tried on a bunch of wedding dresses.. We had a right laugh but none of them were cheesy enough.

‘I told the women there we wanted something more ridiculous. She said they had some round the back that they didn’t think people would buy, so they save them for Halloween. They were proper Miss Havisham style.

Michele’s married friends had drinks in solidarity (Picture: Kennedy News and Media)

‘I tore one of the bags open and gasped. That was it – it was the one.

‘It’s very pale pink, has all these sequins on and my friend said I look like Ariel from The Little Mermaid when she gets married at the end.

‘I’ll be wearing it again at every possible opportunity – I might get it out for Halloween and you never know, if I ever do get married, I might wear it for that.’

After finding her perfect dress, she set up a Facebook event to invite guests – and some family members were a little confused about the identity of her future husband.

Michele said: ‘I made a Facebook event titled ‘Michele’s Wedding’. I had all these people messaging me saying ‘oh my god, who are you marrying?’

‘My family didn’t get it at all and thought I was being really weird.

‘I was at a wedding the other day and my distant cousin said “I heard about you marrying yourself”.’

Despite a few concerns, her guests loved the day and even her daughter loved it.

Michele said: ‘My daughter has taken it in her stride, she’s used to me being a bit wild.

‘She was there when I was walking up the high street in a wedding dress, on her phone, pretending she couldn’t see me.

‘She’s used to her mum being a bit quirky – she can be a bit like that as well.’

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