Some girls around the world dream of their wedding day and plan everything down to the very last detail.
Dottie Fideli was one of those girls and has been dreaming of her ultimate wedding day her entire life.
Now at age 77 she's said 'sod it' to waiting around for a man and has married herself in the ultimate act of self-love at her Ohio retirement home.
Speaking to NBC local affiliate WLWT5, the grandmother revealed she finally had the chance to have the wedding she had always dreamed of.
Advert
"This is something I’ve always wanted," she said.
"I wanted to get married and have a happy life but things didn’t work out that way and now I have a second chance in doing something that’ll make me happy."
"I told my daughter, I said, ‘This is the best thing that I’ve ever had, outside of having you kids'," told the Today show.
Ms Fideli had been married once before, back in 1965.
But the ill-fated nuptials were never meant to be.
After she and her ex-husband exchanged vows at a courthouse, 'he went to work and I went home'.
"I wore a black dress, so I was doomed before I got started," she revealed.
But she had always dreamed of having her own 'big wedding', but was dismayed at the idea it was 'too late' for her.
Her daughter, Donna Pennington, was determined to make her mother's dreams come true.
They set about decorating the community room of O’Bannon Terrace Retirement Home in Goshen, Ohio, with balloons and her daughter cooked all of the food.
Family, friends, and loved ones turned out to see Fideli in her dream white dress with sheer long sleeves and a silver belt.
She also wore a white veil with an embellished headband.
Like any blushing bride, Fideli was 'nervous' leading up to the big day.
But, when the sun set on her dream wedding day, she ended up 'really happy' after marrying herself.
In her hand as she said her vows to herself, she held a white lily as a symbol for self-love.
"I said, 'Everybody takes this outside lily. And they live their life and they think they’re happy and everything’s going to be hunky-dory, but they don’t consider the inside, the little petals inside'," she told Today.
"The inside is what’s important. That’s where God’s love flows. That’s where he gives you wisdom and he gives you hope. And nobody ever takes time to think about that."
She added: "So that’s what I’ve done, and I’d appreciate it if all of you people would do it and think of it that way."
Good for you, Dottie.
Now that is one woman who don't need no man. Not now, not ever.
Topics: Good News
Rachel Lang