• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
77-year-old woman marries herself and wears the wedding dress of her dreams

Home> News

Published 05:45 18 May 2023 GMT+1

77-year-old woman marries herself and wears the wedding dress of her dreams

After all, the most important person you could ever love is yourself.

Rachel Lang

Rachel Lang

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."

Donna Pennington

"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.

Advert

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.

Advert

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.

Donna Pennington

Like any blushing bride, Fideli was 'nervous' leading up to the big day.

Advert

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."

Advert

Good for you, Dottie.

Now that is one woman who don't need no man. Not now, not ever.

Featured Image Credit: YouTube/KCENNews

Topics: Good News

Rachel Lang
Rachel Lang

Rachel Lang is a Digital Journalist at LADbible. During her career, she has interviewed Aussie PM Malcolm Turnbull in the lead up to the 2016 federal election, ran an editorial campaign on the war in Yemen, and reported on homelessness in the lead-up to Harry and Meghan’s wedding in Windsor. She also once wrote a yarn on the cheese and wine version of Fyre Festival.

X

@rlangjournalist

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Bride solves bizarre four-year mystery after guest she didn't know appeared in her wedding pictures
  • Bride shot dead at her own wedding in 'mafia-style execution' with 13-year-old among injured
  • Influencer issues first public statement since the death of her 3-year-old son
  • Woman on Ozempic reveals why she gave her 11 year old daughter weight loss jabs

Choose your content:

11 hours ago
13 hours ago
15 hours ago
  • Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
    11 hours ago

    Body language expert explains why King Charles was 'clearly uneasy' after what Trump did during state visit

    Trump was breaking royal protocol once again

    News
  • Nina Westervelt/Billboard via Getty Images
    11 hours ago

    Major new discovery in case of decomposing body found in boot of singer's impounded Tesla

    The Tesla was registered to singer D4vd, real name David Anthony Burke

    News
  • Handout/Getty Images
    13 hours ago

    Disturbing behaviours Madeleine McCann prime suspect Christian B displayed before arrest

    Christian Brueckner's claimed McCann was 'dead' among other odd behaviours in the ITV documentary

    News
  • Jonathan Brady - WPA Pool/Getty Images
    15 hours ago

    Royal protocol explained as Donald Trump breaks major etiquette in first moments of meeting with King Charles

    The US president is currently in Britain on a second state visit, with plans to meet Sir Keir Starmer tomorrow

    News