Single woman hosts wedding-themed birthday to celebrate making it 'all this way without marrying anyone'
Alexandra Deabler By Alexandra Deabler | Fox News

It’s her birthday and she’ll marry herself if she wants to.

A single mom rang in her 36th birthday in an unusual fashion – by wearing a wedding dress and tiara and celebrating making it “all this way without marrying anyone.”

Michele Plum of Horsham, West Sussex, England, sent out Facebook invitations to her friends and family announcing her plans for a wedding-themed birthday party after getting fed up seeing everyone around her getting married and having "babies everywhere."

Michele Plum came up with the unusual idea of effectively "marrying herself" after watching many friends settling down and seeing "babies everywhere." (Kennedy News)

“I’m 36 years old on 16th August this year and have made it all this way without marrying anyone! Well done me!” the invitation begins, according to a screengrab of the Facebook page. “So, seeing as I have no intentions to do so for real (sorry Ben!), I want to have a wedding. That’s the best bit about marriage anyway, right?”

The woman went on to demand her guests put the date on their calendars, threatening to go “full Bridezilla” if they didn’t show up, and requested that everyone wear their best “bridesmaids dresses, your own wedding dress, cheesy suit, or as Elvis.”

The party plan was hatched after Plum said she saw another woman host a wedding-themed birthday a couple of years ago.

“I thought that was brilliant and so funny,” she told Metro.

“I became a single mom in my early twenties. I’ve done all the hard parenting stuff and now I’m free. My life’s brilliant. I have no intention of settling down,” she added.

"The message behind this is that I’m independent and strong. I’ve tried to teach my daughter that she doesn’t need a partner if she doesn’t want one." — Michele Plum
Though the mom-of-one does not plan to get married, she still wanted to celebrate with the gown and the reception.

“When I go a wedding now, I just love the dress and the fact they get a big party,” she told Metro. “That’s the bit about marriage I like – not the having to live with somebody for the rest of my life bit.”

To plan her over-the-top bridal birthday, Plum said she went to a thrift shop in her town to find the “cheesiest option.”

“I bought my dress from the St Catherine’s Hospice shop in Horsham," she said. "They’ve devoted the whole upstairs to bridal dresses."

The single mom invited all her married friends and family to celebrate her birthday -- and her marriage to herself. (Kennedy News)

“I tore one of the bags open and gasped. That was it – it was the one. It’s very pale pink, has all these sequins on and my friend said I look like Ariel from The Little Mermaid when she gets married at the end,” she said of her purchase.

Plum said she hosted the birthday to be funny, but she was also trying to set a good example for her daughter.

“The message behind this is that I’m independent and strong. I’ve tried to teach my daughter that she doesn’t need a partner if she doesn’t want one,” she said to Metro. “With hard work, enjoying life and having good friends and family, you don’t need to be dependent on someone else.”

Plum isn’t completely ruling out the possibility of marriage in the future – especially after finding her perfect dress.

“I’ll be wearing [the dress] again at every possible opportunity – I might get it out for Halloween and you never know, if I ever do get married, I might wear it for that,” she said.

Well, in a sense, this is more legit than other fake marriages ... in that, at least, like in real marriage, she is indeed one flesh with herself.

Some people have too much time on their hands.  I’m single, always have been.  Want a party? MEhy have your home consecrated and invite your friends and neighbors?  Or feel gypped of a Wedding?  Kids?  Rent a hall, have a party for poor/homeless women with children.  You foot the bill, everyone has a great time!  Marriage is about sacrifice, not selfishness.  It’s probably a good thing this lady isn’t married, for she’d soon be divorced!  So typical of today’s young adults.  It’s all about I, me, mine, myself.  No wonder they’re miserable.   

Seraphina, I agree with you on this.  Many single moms I know are very selfish and creepy.  

I do know a couple of single Mom’s who go to Traditional Mass often and every Sunday.   They put God and their children first.  A night out for them is Eucharistic adoration.

(where I live there are trad Catholic women who have large families and go out to party at public bars and wineries without their husbands.).    

Well, my sister and cousins are divorced, raising kids on their own, but not by deliberate choice.  They made hasty, unwise marriages, refused parental advice, and are paying the price.  Neither is creepy.  I also worked with a single Mom of five. She was pregnant with number five when she converted and got her head screwed on straight.  She does the best she can.  One of the children’s father’s helps out as he’s able by paying his child’s support and doing odd jobs for her.  She’s praying for his conversion.  If he becomes Catholic, there’d be no impediment to marriage.  I don’t condemn either of them as they both grew up this way.  
As for traditional Catholic married mothers with children at home acting like they’re single women in college or just single...that’s creepy, IMO.  Once you’re a mother of minor children, your clubbing days are OVER.  It’s unfitting to your state of life.  What do the men do, stay home and baby-sit?  If married women want to get together, fine, but not to bars and nightclubs!  Do the men have a turn, too?  Do they go out and drink, dance and check out the ladies?  If they do, they, also, should be ashamed.  I’ve no objection to a man stopping at a local pub for a beer on his way home from work, or to attend a men’s club once a week.  Likewise, a woman can attend a women’s club, or better yet, do something together if the children can be left with a reliable sitter for an hour.  But clubbing is not an acceptable activity, even if done together, for a couple with children at home.
When I was young, my father would make cocktails for two when he came home from work.  I was allowed to play in my room and it was understood it was Mom and Dad’s time alone together before dinner. In later years, my parents or neighbors might host a small cocktail and hors d’ouvres party to which everyone came, but there’d be picnic lunch for the kids in the yard or basement and the living and dining room for the adults.  It would usually be over by about 7:30 or 8:00.  Only single people went out to clubs.  
If they have lots of children, these folks must be rather well off.  Drinks, cover fees, parking fees, tips and the like are not exactly inexpensive.  It costs a lot more to go out than to host a home gathering.