A grandmother has thrown the lavish wedding she always wanted just for herself after a lifetime of heartache which saw her first marriage fell apart.
It was a dream come true for 77-year-old Dorothy 'Dottie' Fideli as she married herself in a stunning ceremony at her retirement home.
Dottie, who donned a beautiful white wedding dress and veil and held a bouquet of silk roses, explained that the unusual wedding was something she had always wanted to do, and saw it as a second chance to do something that would make her happy.
Her first marriage, a civil ceremony in a courthouse back in 1965, fell apart after just nine years, and Dottie knew it wouldn't last when her husband went straight back to work following the service.
"I wore a black dress, so I was doomed before I got started," she told reporters.
Dottie, who has three children, said, "This is something I've always wanted. I wanted to get married and have a happy life, but things didn't work out that way, and now I have a second chance in doing something that'll make me happy."
Dottie's retirement home manager, Robert Geiger, acted as the wedding priest and, after the service in Ohio on May 13, guests were treated to a sumptuous reception feast with a two-tiered wedding cake.
Dottie's daughter Donna Pennington was her wedding planner and bought her dress and flowers and cooked for the guests.
"She goes, 'Oh, Mom, yeah, let's go do it. I'll go get your dress, I'll get you everything,'" Dottie said.
The retired mother of three is known for doing eccentric things to make people laugh at her home.
"When I see them all down in the dumps, I go get one of my outfits on and dress up and come down, and they smile," she said.
Dottie has a profound message for everyone: "Everybody takes this outside lily. And they live their life and they think they're happy and everything's going to be hunky-dory, but they don't consider the inside, the little petals inside is what's important."
She added, "That's where God's love flows, that's where He gives you wisdom and He gives you hope. Love is the most important thing in this world, and if you love God and love yourself, this world will be a field of roses."
Dottie was reportedly overjoyed with the ceremony and said to her daughter "this is the best thing that I've ever had, outside of having you kids. This is what I've always wanted."
