Kayley Stead, aged 27, of Swansea, Wales, decided to go ahead with her wedding when her fiancé left her on the morning of the ceremony. She explains why she made that choice, supported by her loved ones.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 - Oh! - Her booty is popping in that one.
00:02 - Oh! - Look at that one.
00:04 - My dad's in the 40s, I haven't got a bald spot ever.
00:07 (laughing)
00:08 - I'm Kayleigh, I was the bride,
00:10 and these are my best friend and sister,
00:14 Katie and Jodie, who were my maid of honours
00:16 on my wedding day.
00:17 I had a call off his mum, who had informed me
00:20 that the groom had gone at two o'clock in the morning
00:23 for a walk, which I didn't see as anything different.
00:27 He hadn't come back at that point,
00:29 but normally he tends to go on walks
00:31 if he ever feels anxious or stressed.
00:34 I was not crying at all, I was hopeful.
00:36 I said he will be there, 'cause hand on heart,
00:38 I believed that he would be there.
00:40 When I was getting my makeup done,
00:41 I had a couple of calls from his dad,
00:43 as to which then he said to the girls that he'd gone,
00:48 and he wasn't coming back, which he told his dad
00:51 that he wouldn't be, 'cause he was about four hours away
00:53 from the actual venue, and we had an hour to get married.
00:56 And that's when I knew, when his dad told me,
01:01 because his dad was quite frank.
01:03 We asked her what she wanted to do then,
01:05 and Katie said, "Look, all my family and all my friends
01:07 "have come from all over, they spent so much money
01:10 "on my day, I spent so much money on my day,
01:13 "I still wanna have it, whether he's gonna be there or not."
01:16 So, like a trooper, she decided to go ahead
01:19 with the day anyway.
01:20 I arrived with my brother, and I saw these two girls
01:24 outside with some of the groomsmen.
01:27 - The wedding arrangers of Oz as well.
01:28 - Yeah, and the registrars were there,
01:31 and they were crying too, and that's when I knew
01:35 that he wasn't there.
01:36 And then, I didn't wanna go into the ceremony room,
01:40 'cause I didn't wanna see what I was meant to get married.
01:43 I haven't seen it to this day, and the girls got
01:46 the bridesmaids and all the groomsmen to go in,
01:49 and I asked them to announce what had happened.
01:52 I kinda was a bit like, I don't like this,
01:54 I wanna get going, I don't want anybody to feel sorry for me,
01:58 I don't want pity, I just wanna carry on.
01:59 - So, the staff literally bought you a shot of tequila,
02:03 whatever time it was, and you told your chintrap up,
02:07 and off we went.
02:08 - Yeah, and then they asked what we wanted to do
02:11 for the entrance, if we still wanted to do one,
02:14 and I thought, why not?
02:16 I got the groomsmen to get involved with it,
02:18 because they stayed, and I wanted--
02:20 - Supported you. - Yeah, they supported me,
02:21 so I wanted to thank them and show them
02:23 it was their day as much as mine,
02:25 and we all entered the venue to Lizzo, feeling good as hell,
02:29 and then, rather than being my groom sitting at the table,
02:33 I had all my girls sit with me,
02:34 which was actually probably one of the best things
02:37 that I'd done. - Yeah, it was.
02:38 - My maid of honour decided at the time, Jodie did.
02:41 - I didn't put your eyes in--
02:42 - So, maybe it's a Katy baby, well, I got--
02:44 - Yeah, 'cause it was in--
02:46 - Aww. - Aww.
02:47 - That's-- - Your carotid.
02:48 - That's what I wanted, though, I wanted--
02:49 - I know. - Yeah.
02:50 - That was a professional-- - You might have watched
02:51 Tom Tobs in it. - I know.
02:53 - I did watch that. - Very professional, though.
02:54 - We had speeches, I was never gonna make a speech,
02:56 but I wanted to thank people for being there, because--
02:59 - For staying, yeah. - Yeah, 'cause it's
03:01 a very strange situation, and I would have understood
03:03 if anybody went, I wasn't expecting anybody to stay,
03:06 and the fact that loads of people stayed,
03:09 it was unbelievable. - And all of the guests,
03:11 I don't think one goes there.
03:12 - Yeah, apart from the groom's side.
03:14 - I knew she was strong, but I didn't know
03:15 she was that strong, and I said that if there's one thing
03:17 I wish for my daughter when she grows up,
03:19 is that she has half of Kayleigh's strength,
03:21 because how she did it, I don't know.
03:23 - They asked if I wanted to do a first dance,
03:26 and I've always dreamed of dancing with my dad,
03:28 because he's older than what your average dad
03:32 tends to be at this age.
03:34 He's not gonna-- - Necessarily be there.
03:36 - Be there. - Yeah, yeah.
03:37 - So it's always something I've dreamed about,
03:39 having a dance with my dad, and just to celebrate
03:42 the groom's men and my brothers, 'cause my brothers
03:44 were there for me throughout the day.
03:45 I had my first dance with them, and then,
03:48 I kinda went to sleep with Jodie and my best friend
03:51 at the time.
03:52 - They stayed in the room with her.
03:53 That was obviously gonna be their room for the night,
03:56 so they kept her company.
03:58 - Yeah, I had plenty of alcohol throughout the day
04:00 to keep me company as well, so yeah,
04:02 other than that, I think that's the day.
04:04 As you can see from this occasion,
04:06 I haven't been left alone at one point,
04:08 so that's made me feel 10 times better,
04:11 the fact that I haven't been alone,
04:13 which I thought, at that point, when I found out
04:15 he was gonna be there, I thought I was gonna be alone,
04:18 but then I turned and saw these guys straight away crying,
04:21 and I knew I wasn't alone then.
04:23 (group chatter)
04:25 (group laughter)
04:28 (group laughter)
04:31 You're welcome.