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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Sam Elliott-Gibbs

Bride jilted on wedding day forced to have first dance with dad and brothers

A jilted bride who had her heart broken minutes before she was due to get married spent her first dance with her dad, brothers and groomsmen after ploughing on with the party.

Kayley Stead, 27, found out she wasn't going to marry her partner of almost four years when he failed to arrive for their nuptials - but decided to carry on with the big day anyway.

Policeman Kallum Norton, 24, got cold feet and withdrew from the £12,000 wedding on September 15 with the bride-to-be's embarrassed mother-in-law-to-be forced to break the news he'd fled.

She refused to let the intense devastation show and kept her incredible gown on in a show of strength - and a big middle finger - to the man who didn't turn up.

More than £7,000 has been raised to help reimburse her after being left to pay the bill.

Her family helped crushed Kayley Stead through her heartache (Facebook)
She told her devastating story on This Morning (S Meddle/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

The drinks flowed and Kayley, who lives in Portmead, Swansea, Wales, entered the party singing along to Lizzo's 'Good as Hell' with her bridal party.

She punched off the top tier of her wedding cake, and spent her first dance with dad Brian, 71, and the appalled groomsmen, who refused to side with him.

Brothers, Craig, 47, Matthew, 46, Gary, 46, and another Craig, 43, also took to the dance floor in place Norton.

She posted a reel on facebook to thanking the people who helped her through an emotionally draining day.

Even the groomsmen stuck around as she ploughed on with the party (Facebook)

They danced to From Here To The Moon And Back by Dolly Parton, Jeremy Jordan and Kris Kristofferson - one of her tragic mum's favourite songs.

Captioning the montage of those close to her, Kayley wrote: "I just wanted to give a moment to thank the great men who are in my life and who carried me through one of my toughest days...my dad and my brothers!

"Everyone has dreamed of their first dance, however mine wasn't with my husband - but it was with the men I will always treasure.

She is "overwhelmed" by strangers donating almost £7,000 to help cover the wedding costs (Neil Jones Photography / SWNS)

"My brothers and my dad made sure that whenever I cried throughout the day, that I always had a shoulder to cry on and also reminded me of who I am and what I deserve."

Now living alone with no explanation from her ex and her honeymoon cancelled, insurance clerk Kayley is coming to terms with what has happened and is pleased she still had the party so her money and effort didn't go to waste.

She said: "I saw the groom at around 4pm the day before the wedding and I haven't heard from him since.

Her first dance wasn't what she had hoped it would be (Facebook)

"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."

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