Could the self-marriage trend come to Charlotte?
Dating isn’t easy in Charlotte. This city is small enough that one “It’s not you, it’s me,” can mean you never go to the same yoga class again. Or here you are, trying to get to know two people at once before you commit to exclusivity and suddenly all three of you bump into each other at a networking event. Awkward introductions all around!
Maybe you just can’t get that person you’re into to settle down and commit. We might have a reason to be scared: Millennials are 177 percent more likely to feel intense pressure to get married than other generations.
So what’s next? Self-marriage?
It’s not unheard of. A 40-year-old Italian woman name Laura Mesi just married herself in a ceremony. She wore a white dress, cut into a three-layer wedding cake and surrounded herself with bridesmaids (in legitimate bridesmaid dresses) and 70 guests.
As BBC News reported, Mesi “is part of a growing trend for self-marriage – dubbed ‘sologamy’ – in countries around the world.”
“I firmly believe that each of us must first of all love ourselves,” said Mesi. “You can have a fairytale even without the prince.”
The marriage comes with no legal obligations and she could still meet a man and create a future with him.
What if this started happening in Charlotte? I’ve got some quirky friends. I could see this trend coming to town.
And I would most certainly attend a self-marriage ceremony. I would even go cake tasting with my self-marrying friend. What I wouldn’t do is throw cash down for a bridesmaid dress. (I’ve invested $700 in the David’s Bridal empire already, thank you very much.) But I’d be polite about it.
It would be easy enough. There’s a package called “I Married Me Self-Wedding In-A-Box” that people can purchase for prices ranging from $50-$230 that include a hand-crafted ring, ceremony instructions, vows and daily affirmation cards, “so you can continue the practice.”
The makers of I Married Me don’t care if you’re single, in a relationship or married. Their website states: “A self-wedding is a symbolic ceremony — about reconnecting and staying connected with you. Wear the ring to remind you every day to LOVE YOURSELF.”
Taglines on the site like “you should totally marry yourself” and “Hell yeah I’m awesome!” reinforce the self love idea.
My favorite story on the topic was written last year in Cosmopolitan about a woman in Brooklyn who held a ceremony to celebrate her 36th birthday and declare her love for herself, dressed in white, surrounded by close friends. As the story goes, “Later she tossed the bouquet to friends and downed two shots of whiskey, one for herself and one for herself.”
I’d say she has it all figured out.
Photo: Kayla Coleman Photography/Carolina Bride
This story was originally published September 27, 2017 at 11:00 PM with the headline "Could the self-marriage trend come to Charlotte?."