Bride Left At The Altar By Fiance Goes Ahead With Celebrations On Wedding Day | "I Was In Complete Bliss"

"I don't believe in fighting fire with fire. I'd rather just deal with the situation as best as I can and hold my head high," she exclaimed.

Cover Image Source: Instagram/kayleystead2206

By Zoha Fatima

October 24, 2022

Posted October 24, 2022

A bride being left alone at the altar on her wedding day, expecting the groom to be to arrive doesn't usually count as joyful news. Being stood up in any scenario makes one usually feel insulted. The tables turn when one takes it as the other person's loss and gain for self by being saved from a disaster that could have later taken place. This Welsh bride proved exactly that. She was left at the altar on her wedding day when her fiance did not turn up. She changed it into such an event, that she has now become an inspiration for jilted partners everywhere by the gracious manner in which she handled her now ex-fiance's sudden change of heart.

On the bright morning of September 15th Kayley Stead, a 27-year-old insurance clerk, was getting her hair and makeup done when one of the groomsmen phoned her best friend to inform the bridal party that the groom had vanished. Stead and the former groom-to-be started dating in December 2018 and got engaged in the month of August 2020. The former pair had mutually decided that they wouldn't speak to each other or have any interaction on the evening before the wedding, reports New York Post.

Hearing this news about his disappearance, Stead initially gave him the benefit of doubt and perhaps assumed he got cold feet. She was aware that her fiance had a habit of going for walks or drives by himself to clear his head when he was anxious. She told her bridesmaids to continue getting ready as she hoped the groom-to-be would return. "I saw the groom at around 4 p.m. the day before the wedding and I haven't heard from him since. We've tried to reach out to him, but I've had no response from him, no reason why. I've had no explanation — not that I want one now, because it's too far along the line," she shared. She recalled, "I honestly believed, hand on heart, that he was going to be there."

It soon became evident that the groom didn't plan on showing up when he didn't turn up by 11 a.m. for the wedding. The bride realized that she was ditched and devastatingly broke the news to her bridal party, her hairstylists, parents, family, friends, and videographer. "At that point, I was gone. I was sobbing," she expressed. Just then, Stead's videographer jokingly suggested that she go ahead with the celebration. "You've spent all this money, you're not getting it back, all your guests are there, why don't you just go?" the filmmaker asked her. Her friends loved the idea and encouraged her to go forward with it. The bride-to-be took 10 minutes to compose herself and seeing all the support she was receiving, she decided to go along with the change of plans and enjoyed her wedding day at Oxwich Bay Hotel in Swansea, Wales. "That's when I was like, I'm going to do it. I'd spent all this money, I'd been looking forward to the food, a dance with my dad, and spending time with my family, so why not?" Stead recollected. Backed by a good wedding party and well-wishers, she made a fabulous entrance to the Lizzo hit "Good as Hell" and gave speeches, danced her first dance with her groomsmen, her brothers, and her dad Brian, cut the tiered wedding cake, and posed for her professional photos.

To help her pay some of the event's expenses, Stead's friends set up a GoFundMe page. The bride canceled her honeymoon trip to Turkey, packed up her ex-partner's belongings from her home, and left them with his family. "You can probably see a few tear streaks down my face, but I love the photos," Stead shared. "I wanted to make sure everyone knew that it wasn't about the sad and that we were going to power through this. It was a very awkward situation for [my friends] to be in, but they all stayed. I didn't want to remember the day as complete sadness. There were so many special moments... so there was still happiness in the day. I was in complete bliss — unknown bliss. I had no clue, no signal. He showed me no reason as to why he would leave me on that day." " "I don't believe in fighting fire with fire. I'd rather just deal with the situation as best as I can and hold my head high," she exclaimed.