A woman married herself by saying 'I do' in a full-size ceremony complete with ring, cake and bridesmaids - and says she's never been happier.
Robbie Fincham, 57, is a marriage and funeral celebrant and she found herself at a crossroads after separating from her partner of 20 years in 2015.
She spent a several years dating but failed to meet anyone special, and over time began to worry that she would never find love again.
But the mother-of-three from Melbourne, Australia, suddenly realised she didn't need anyone else - so she popped the question to herself.
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Robbie, who is mum to Roland, 24, and twins, Erica and Alice, 21, said: "I said my vows into a full-length mirror, and promised to always love myself, it was quite profound actually, I remember afterwards and I just felt so elated.
"Because I've actually never been married myself, I thought maybe this is what brides feel like.
"I don't know if I'll ever get married to someone else in the future – I'm hesitant to say no but I'm not particularly interested in it, although human connection is important.
"I'm not actively dating, but if someone were to come along, they'd have to be very very special because I'm very happy solo."
Following the collapse of her relationship with her children's father, she began to think her perfect partner did not exist.
She said: "I was searching for someone special with whom I could form an emotional connection or have a relationship with – after a few unsuccessful, short-term relationships, I suddenly came to the realisation that I might never find that special someone, the one.
"This made me incredibly sad, and the sadness morphed into depression, so I took myself off to counselling and it probably took me a year to start feeling better again.
"My councillor described me as having anticipatory grief, the grief of not having something that you really desire, in my case, an intimate relationship."
After Robbie processed the grief, she began to realise the importance of self-love.
She said: "Through therapy and meditation, I realised what was missing in my life was the love for myself, before, I really thought that I was incomplete without a man in my life but what I really needed to do was to learn to love myself.
"So, I started honouring myself and my feelings, I started looking after myself, taking myself out on dates, doing things that I really love, and I became happy in my own company.
"That very strong desire to meet somebody, and have a relationship with that person just washed away."
In summer 2020, Robbie made the decision to make the ultimate commitment to herself and marry herself.
She explained: "I had a very brief relationship in 2020 and it didn't work out – I was talking to my sister on the phone one day about it and it just slipped out of my mouth and I said, 'you know what, I should just marry myself'.
"She paused for a minute, and she said it was a great idea, and it just grew from that."
Robbie decided to have the ceremony on her 55th birthday, on February 7 2021, in her front garden in front of her four close friends, her two daughters, who were bridesmaids, and her sister, who was the celebrant.
"I wrote the ceremony and my vows, which I said into a mirror, which was very therapeutic, I had an entrance to a beautiful piece of music," she said.
"I put a ring on my finger, wore a white wedding dress that I got online, organised my own cake, bought flowers from a flower market close to me the day before, and made my own bouquet and two for my daughters."
Explaining how her loved ones felt on the day, Robbie said: "The support from my friends and my daughters was fantastic.
"There was one friend who was sort of a little bit taken aback, she didn't quite understand it but she did still come to the ceremony.
"My mother didn't come to the wedding ceremony, and neither did my son, but they both came to the reception afterwards.
"She thought it was all a bit weird and she's in her eighties, but she is my greatest fan now – we talk about it and she understands, she's very happy for me."
In Australia, self-marriage is not recognised officially by law, so Robbie's ceremony was purely symbolic and not legally binding.
She said: "I don't write my name as 'married' on forms or anything like that, because it's not my legal status, I don't know if it would really work to have it recognised by law because contracts usually work as an agreement between two people."
On the same day as her ceremony, Robbie launched a business called Marrying Me, to help others get married to themselves.
She said: "I had the idea when I was planning my own wedding ceremony because I'm a celebrant anyway, but it made me realise we live in a couple's world.
"There's no celebration for people who choose to live the solo life which I think can leave people thinking they're the odd ones out.
"I think it would be particularly empowering to have a ceremony for someone who has come out of a traumatic relationship too."
So far, Robbie has done all of her ceremonies online via Zoom for people abroad, including a man in Sweden and a woman in Singapore.
Looking to the future, she hopes to perform more ceremonies, especially in person in Australia, she said: "It's extremely rewarding for me and so empowering for other people.
"It's had a great effect on my life, and I'm passionate about making that available to other people, and helping them express a powerful statement of self-love and self-acceptance."
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