Devastated at Being Dumped, She Made a 'Wacky' Decision

Melissa Denton concedes the decision she made in early 2018 after being dumped by her longtime boyfriend—which came on the tail of two divorces—was a "wacky" one. But, as the UK woman explains in an opinion piece for the Telegraph, "I needed to learn to love myself before I would be able to attract the right people." That decision led to "the best day of my life": the day she married herself. Denton details her move to self-wed (official term: sologamy) by first outlining how she'd been constantly moving on from man to man, starting with her first marriage in her early '20s. "For years, I had poured myself into relationship after relationship, losing myself in the process," she writes.

It was after a Christmas Eve breakup text from her boyfriend of more than five years that Denton really started to take stock in what she was doing on the love and self-care front: "It was time to put 'me' first—a way to affirm that I can be happy on my own and to move on from the relationship." She bought herself a "nice-sized rock" (engagement ring), spent six months planning a $5,000 "blowout" wedding, and transformed from Miss Denton to Mrs. Denton in front of her friends and family, including her 11-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter. "For the first time in my adult life, I was single and happy," she writes. "The experience was empowering. Rather than wasting my time, energy, and love on someone else, I was putting myself first." Read more about Denton's big day here. (More marriage stories.)