A bride who spent all her life savings on her wedding carried on with the ceremony after her groom stood her up.
Kayley Stead discovered her wedding to her partner of almost four years wasn’t going to hold when her mother-in-law-to-be broke the news he’d fled on the day of the wedding.
The bride was getting her hair and make-up done when it was discovered that the groom would not be attending the wedding.
Despite the heartbreak, Kayley 27, who had spent £12k on the wedding preparations, decided to go ahead with the big day on September 15 at Oxwich Bay Hotel in Swansea, with her loved ones around her.
With support from her bridal party and family, Kayley went ahead with her wedding entrance, meal, speeches, dances and even posed for professional photos without her groom.
The bride entered the party singing along to Lizzo’s Good As Hell with her bridal party and spent her first dance with the groomsmen, her brothers, Craig, 47, Matthew, 46, Gary, 46, and another Craig, 43, and her dad, Brian, 71.
Now, living alone with no explanation from her ex and her honeymoon cancelled, Kayley is coming to terms with what has happened.
Kayley, who works as an insurance clerk and lives in Portmead, Swansea, said she saw the groom at 4pm the day before the wedding but hasn’t heard from him since.
She said: “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.
“It was an absolute shock, I had no indication he was going to do this but seeing my girls distraught as well made me want to turn the day around.
“I didn’t want to remember the day as complete sadness. The whole day, we were saying it felt like an episode of Hollyoaks or EastEnders. It didn’t feel like a real life situation.”
“There were so many special moments, like my wedding entrance, the sparkler walk, the first dance and punching the wedding cake – so there was still happiness in the day.
“I’d spent all this money, I’d been looking forward to the food, a dance with my dad, spending time with my family, so why not?”
Kayley and her ex had been together for almost four years and got engaged when he proposed in August 2020.
The night before the wedding, Kayley stayed in an AirBnB celebrating with her bridesmaids while the groom and his groomsmen stayed in a caravan near the venue.
Kayley said: “The groom and I had already agreed not to speak the night before the wedding anyway, so I didn’t know what was happening on his end, I didn’t have a clue.”
The groom left the caravan that evening and never returned, leaving the groomsmen to contact the bridal party with the dreadful news.
“We woke up at quarter past six when the makeup artist arrived, had breakfast together and then started getting ready,” Kayley said.
“One of the groomsmen contacted my best friend to say the groom was gone, and the bridal party hid my phone so they could decide what was the best way to tell me and I wouldn’t find out from someone else.