Standing at the altar in a gorgeous white gown, hands clasped around a fragrant bouquet, Louisa Warren had never felt so sure, as she glanced over her handwritten wedding vows. Speaking slowly and confidently, she said: “I will stay true to myself and live without changing myself to please others.”
A kindly celebrant, wearing sparkling, diamante-framed specs, broke the silence, as she spoke to a sea of empty chairs in the Las Vegas chapel. Addressing the single guest in the congregation, she explained how bride Louisa – a 39-year-old film producer from Manchester – was all dressed up, ready to marry herself.
Now, several months on from the November 2025 ceremony, Louisa, 39, says: “I know how mad this sounds, but after being unlucky in love for decades, marrying myself is one of the best things I’ve ever done.”
Life for Louisa had not gone to plan. She says: “By 25, I was sure that I’d be married to a gorgeous man who adored me, living in London and pregnant with our first child.” But while she dated, no one was right. She admits: “I knew I was picking the wrong guys. I’d always go for Alpha males, bad boys with muscles and tattoos, who had the gift of the gab.
“They’d make me weak at the knees with their twinkly eyes and compliments, tell me every lie under the sun, and then once we’d been to bed they’d be gone. Heartbroken, I’d swear to myself that I’d make a better choice next time, but I never did.”
Then, aged 29, her world was turned upside down. She explains: “I’d always had a fast metabolism. If I went running, I could eat what I wanted and keep my size 8-10 figure.”
But she started feeling lethargic, craving pints of orange juice and piled on weight – also developing a weird rash on her leg.
Gaining 10 stone and jumping to a size 26, she says: “I became depressed and stopped wanting to socialise, I was just too embarrassed. I did occasionally meet guys on Tinder, but they’d be men who’d openly say, ‘I like big girls.’ It was horrible to be defined by my size like that.”
She went to other people’s weddings, but never her own. She says: “I’d watch my friends say their vows while I sat there without even a plus-one.” Meanwhile, family friends would tell her she’d “catch a husband” if she lost weight.
Her breakthrough came in December 2023. She recalls: “A friend wanted a beauty IV drip and I thought it sounded fun. The medic who administered it said that my blood pressure was incredibly high and asked if I was diabetic. She was so sure I needed a diabetes test that she rang my doctor.”
And she was right. Seven years after her health problems began, Louisa was diagnosed with diabetes. Given medication, the weight began falling away. Confident enough to start dating again, sadly, her dalliances still ended in tears. She says: “I was still an eternal romantic, hoping to meet the ‘one’ who would complete me. It just never happened.”
In October 2025, aged 39 and seven stone lighter than at her heaviest, Louisa went to the US with her friend, Sam. She says: “We went to Universal Studios in Florida and then down to Key West. We were having an amazing time.”
When Sam suggested they pop to Las Vegas on their way home, Louisa agreed. She says: “I’d always wanted to go.” Two days in, they found themselves walking past a wedding chapel. Louisa continues: “I saw these signs outside with prices for their wedding packages. There was even a drive-through, where people were getting married in their cars. It was crazy!”
Then Louisa realised their casino hotel also had a wedding chapel and dragged her friend in to find out more. Discovering they offered both legally binding and ceremonial weddings, she said to the celebrant: “I’d love to find someone to marry.”
“You can always marry yourself,” she suggested, adding that making a commitment to yourself can be very healing. Louisa jumped at the chance. She says: “After a really tough time in my life, here was the chance to do something just for me. It would be so empowering to marry myself, to show that I didn’t need another person to make myself whole.”
With one click, Louisa paid £80 for a 30-minute ceremony package, with the celebrant and flowers adding another £110. She laughs: “Sadly, Elvis wasn’t available to officiate!”
Next stop was the bridal boutique. She says: “When the owner asked me about my wedding and I heard myself say ‘actually, I’m marrying myself’ it seemed crazy.
“But when I stood in front of the mirror in this beautiful £2,250 gown, I began to cry. All these years I’d tried to find love. Now I looked like a bride, and felt so beautiful, and I was marrying myself.”
But, knowing the luxury gown was beyond her budget, Louisa found another she liked for just £100. She says: “I added a lovely veil for £100, smoothing underwear for £89 and remembered that I already had some white shoes.’”
Next came the ring. She says: “There was a gift shop in our hotel and I saw a ring with a lovely red stone for £41. It was perfect.” Running through the hotel for the 10am ceremony, people were calling ‘congratulations,’ assuming Louisa’s friend Sam was the groom – when he was actually her only wedding guest.
He says: “I shouted back, ‘No, I’m marrying myself!’ as I ran past, laughing hysterically to see their totally baffled faces!”
Asked if she had any wedding vows, she wrote them in the chapel, saying: “As I wrote, ‘I will stay true to myself and live without changing myself to please others’ I felt a lump in my throat.”
Recalling her walk down the aisle, she continues: “It was surreal to reach the end, knowing no man would be joining me. That this really was all about me.” And reading her vows was deeply emotional. She recalls: “My hands were shaking and I was trying not to cry. It felt so significant to be making these promises to care for myself.”
Then, placing the wedding ring on her own finger, it was over. Louisa says: “I felt incredible.” After some celebratory chicken wings, it was time to take her wedding dress off and start her ‘married life.’
She says: “I was really sad and emotional. It had been such a special day and now it was over.” Before posting pictures of her big day, she had to tell someone.
“I knew I needed to tell my mum first,” she says. “Mum just sighed – she’s used to me doing crazy stuff. My friends were confused and freaked out when they saw the pictures of me in Vegas in a white dress. Who on earth had I married?”
She continues: “They thought marrying myself was hilarious and even though I tried to explain that it was really significant to me, they didn’t understand.”
Eight months later, she knows she made the right choice. She says: “Marrying myself has shown me that I’m a whole person, and don’t need anyone else to complete me. But I haven’t put my married status on my online dating profile – I think that’s the sort of thing to bring up after a few dates!”
And she hasn’t given up on romance. She says: “One day I hope to have a handsome man waiting for me at the end of the aisle. “But until then, I’m very happy that I put a ring on my own finger.”
