Only a few people know what it feels like to be left on the day that's supposed to be one of the happiest of your life — your wedding day. But Kayley Stead sure does.
The 27-year-old British woman had no clue until the last minute that her fiancé, Kallum Norton, wouldn't be coming to their September 15 wedding. But instead of sobbing and running off to, ya know, sob some more, she did something truly inspiring. She carried on with the wedding without her groom, and even though she was heartbroken, it seems like she had a blast.
She just had to change the vibe a bit.
The bridesmaids found out the terrible news the morning of the wedding. According to a GoFundMe made for Kayley, it was a groomsman who broke the news. “[A groomsman] called one of the maids of honor to explain that the groom had ‘gone.’ We were told he had left the caravan they were staying at in Oxwich Bay (the venue) at 12:30 a.m. to visit his family, who were staying in another caravan nearby and hadn’t returned. When they woke in the morning, he was not there and his car had gone,” Jordie Cullen, a friend of the bride, wrote.
The bridesmaids had to tell their friend that her groom wasn't coming, but she still had hope. "So, we all continued getting ready as normal," the GoFundMe page continues. "In the meantime, we all tried contacting him to tell him she was getting ready and will be there at 1:00pm so she could marry him. As the groomsmen were setting up the venue the morning of, we asked them to continue doing so as Kayley had faith he’d be there."
But finally, someone did hear from the groom. He called his father from a blocked number and informed him that he would not be attending his wedding. But Kayley decided to continue with the day with or without him. After all, she'd already paid for the wedding herself and spent her entire life savings on it.
"One of the most difficult things we have ever had to do was stand in front of a room full of all ours and our bride’s friends and family to share the dreadful news that our Kayley was not getting married as the groom had left her," the GoFundMe reads. "We had to invite them all to stay to support her as she got through the day. After breaking the news to them, we asked them all to go outside and wait for Kayley as she understandably did not want to enter the ceremony room."
Luckily, everyone did stay and support Kayley. And according to her friends, she was the absolute picture of strength. She did all of the things that a bride normally does at her own wedding. She danced, ate, drank, and cut the cake. She just did them all without the groom.
In a moment of pure grace, Kayley also got up in front of her guests and made a moving speech. Not only did she thank everyone for being there, she also spoke about self-love and her desire for her guests to have a great time at her wedding. She gave her guests a "massive thank you" for staying. "Because today is about self-love," she went on, through tears. "And I want every single person to really feel self-love."
She also joked with her guests saying, "This dress was too glorious to miss today, so that's why I came here."
It's clear that Kayley is an amazing woman, and she obviously had a lot of support. A GoFundMe page to help replenish the funds she spent on the wedding has raised over £13,000 (about $16,000), exceeding the fundraiser's goal.
"Kayley has a heart of gold and would do anything for anyone. She always puts others needs before her own," her bridesmaids shared on the page. "She is the kindest friend anyone could ask for and is the life and soul of the party. She’s the bigger person in every situation and always takes the high road no matter how she feels or how devastated she is left."
As for the groom? Well, it seems like no one has heard a whole lot from him. The Sun reached out to him for a comment, but he did not offer an explanation or an apology for running out at the last minute. He simply told the outlet, "I don’t want to talk about the article.”
