What is sologamy, where did the new wedding trend of marrying yourself come from and how popular is it?
THERE'S a new wedding trend gaining popularity that means no arguments over whose family sits where, which mother-of-the-bride gets to wear both their favourite colours or any disagreement on the honeymoon destination.
Sound good? Well SOLOGAMY is the way to go if you want to eliminate all those compromises that make organising a wedding so stressful you end up wondering why on earth you're getting married.
What is sologamy?
Sologamy is the act of marrying yourself.
That's right, you say 'I do' to yourself and you promise to love, honour and cherish....yourself.
It's not actually as narcissistic as it sounds. The idea is to give yourself a commitment that values self-love and self-compassion and supporters of the practice claim it leads to a happier life.
The bonus is that you don't even have to change your name!
Is there a wedding ceremony?
There doesn't necessarily have to be a ceremony - you can have what is known as a 'self-uniting' marriage - a marriage without the presence of an official.
The commitment can be anything from a quiet private moment in a room by yourself with a candle and a mirror to a full-blown wedding bonanza complete with dress, cake, reception and vows.
Japanese travel agency Cerca Travel offers to organise the whole event for single women who want to marry themselves for just £2,500 - they created the package "to encourage women to have positive feelings about themselves".
The lucky bride can choose her own gown, hair and bouquet and the two-day "solo wedding" package also includes a limo, a hotel stay and a commemorative photo album.
Of course you can organise your own sologamy wedding anywhere you like and the ceremony can take whatever form you choose as you commit to yourself for as long as you may live.
Where does sologamy come from?
A woman named Linda Baker was apparently the first person to marry herself in the US back in 1993 as a celebration of her 40th birthday.
She pledged to be good to herself witnessed by seven bridesmaids and 75 family and friends. She wanted to celebrate something at that time in her life and felt that a marriage ceremony was the way to do it. Linda explained "It's about doing things for yourself and not waiting around for someone else to make it happen".
There was an episode of Sex and the City that aired in 2003 when Carrie Bradshaw played by Sarah Jessica Parker, announced that she was marrying herself.
The catalyst for her decision was that while she was happy to celebrate her friends' life choices - she complained that they never celebrated her choosing to be single and childless.
Did this trigger the trend?
Jennifer Hoes, a 30-year-old artist, took her own hand in matrimony when she married herself in the Netherlands in 2003 - the same year as the Sex and the City episode, and her marriage received a lot of publicity which could explain how it has gradually caught on.
Since then there have been increasing reports of single women (it seems to be more women than men) marrying themselves in the UK as well as in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Taiwan and the USA.
Sologamy is not recognised in Europe or the US as a legally binding union.
Who has married themselves?
Self-marriage on TV is usually a little tongue-in-cheek, but perhaps it makes a very good point?
Apart from Carrie Bradshaw, we saw an episode of Glee when Sue Sylvester married herself because she realised she really was the perfect partner for herself (and she even officiated too).
It's not purely women who are at it - in Chris Morris's TV series Jam we saw a middle-aged man marry himself.
Lynne Gollogy, 39, has decided she has no interest in being in a relationship and is going to celebrate her upcoming 40th birthday by marrying herself.
Lynne told The Sun that she is "happy being me" and has planned two hen dos and a honeymoon in Rome to celebrate her upcoming nuptials.
Author Sophie Tanner explained how she made the ultimate commitment to herself in May 2015 after she wrote a book on the subject.
Her novel, Happily tells the story of a young woman who ends up marrying herself and the author found that the more she investigated the concept the more intrigued she was, and came to the conclusion it suited her own situation.
Sophie decided to marry herself in a ceremony in Brighton "as a gesture of solidarity" and says it means she can "make myself happy without needing anyone else to make me complete".
