In a greatest expression of self-love, Yasmin Eleby took a solo trip down the aisle and married herself in a beautiful ceremony held earlier this month in Houston.
According to reports, Eleby vowed to herself that if she didn’t find the love of her life by the time she hit 40 she would wed herself. And she did just that.
The ceremony took place on Jan. 3 at the Houston Museum of African American Culture, where her friends and family helped celebrate her big day. The ceremony included 10 bridesmaids. The bride’s sister, who is a minister, officiated the ceremony.
Eleby took to Facebook to share how she felt on her big day:
I was overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and support that was shown to me during my celebration of love and life… I couldn’t imagine the ceremony being any more poignant and meaningful… I’m doing so many things that I only dreamed about and never thought would be possible. I want to encourage each of you to spread your wings and fly! You are not too old and it’s not too late to try something different, learn a new skill, travel to exciting places, etc….Don’t be afraid to take risks. I’ve learned that family and friends are always willing to welcome you back home if/when you decide to return. Thank you once again to each and every person that took the time out of their busy schedule to help me celebrate turning 40! A special thanks to all of my beautiful sisters, sorority sisters, and friends that stood up with me. I truly appreciate your sacrifice to be with me that day.
Eleby is planning to travel to Laos, Cambodia and Dubai for her honeymoon.
Photo Credits: Facebook
January 28, 2015 -
These stories are going viral on the internet right now. I’m all for self-love but this is going too far. These ladies have pretty much gave up on love. Making a commitment to love yourself is something that should be done a daily basis. What will happen if she does meet someone? Would she divorce herself then? Plus you can’t claim this type of marriage for your tax return.
S/N: clutch where have you been? 😛
January 28, 2015 -
“These stories are going viral on the internet right now”–And these stories end up posted and reposted on every site…I rolled my eyes when I saw that this was posted here.
January 28, 2015 -
I give it 6 months.
January 28, 2015 -
I hollered (out loud)!
January 28, 2015 -
Dead !!!!!!
January 28, 2015 -
I know you wrong.
January 28, 2015 -
LOL…nice!
January 28, 2015 -
it’s a good thing i wasn’t invited b/c i wouldn’t have shown up for this. women are constantly bombarded w/these subliminal messages that we have to be married by any means necessary. what’s wrong w/staying single? even if that’s not what you had hoped for yourself, is it really that bad accepting that you’re not married or won’t ever be married that we have to come up w/these gimmicks? i feel the same way whenever folks walk around talking about they’re married to Jesus. that’s why i hate titles. folks act like having a status is the end all to life. now imagine her ending up on a date later down the road & explaining how she’s already married. she’s gonna sound like a nut or extra desperate. who’s gonna take her seriously after this stunt? i’m happily single. i’d love to be married, but i’m not about to cater my life around that one mission & i’m definitely not gonna set an expiration date on when marriage has to happen before i jump to extreme measures. good luck to her though. too bad humans can’t spontaneously reproduce b/c then she coulda been a one woman family. there’s always hope that human cloning will one day become legal though, right? smh…
January 28, 2015 -
Each to her own I guess but this really looks all kinda wrong
So what if you are 40 and not married? for this money or less she could have gone to Vegas with her friends. travelled to Paris? learn to ski Meet the Dali lama etc
there are so many ways to make memories enjoy life we need to get out of this box
January 28, 2015 -
This is a controversial issue. I respect both points of view on this issue. Nothing is new under the sun, so this has occurred for a long time among both genders. In my view, we have to have balance. We don’t need to be obsessed with being married in a paranoid way. Also, we can love ourselves without delving into narcissism. Narcissism and possessing a huge ego don’t work to build up our souls either. What Yasmin Elby did was her decision. It’s her choice. It’s her right.
To each its own. We don’t have to agree with it. I’m not saying that people can only agree with her decision, but it’s her decision. It’s her life. The people look happy at the ceremony and so forth. We should be careful too. We can celebrate our lives without making ourselves selfish. We want ourselves to grow, but we don’t want a selfish vibe where it is all about Me (and expressing concerns for others is thrown out of the window). Yasmin’s marriage to herself is not for everybody. Everybody doesn’t have to participate nor agree with her action. I have tolerance for her decision though. Also, we can’t omit the beauty of marriage. True, loving marriages are beautiful and they have great value in our overall society. Marriages can’t be minimized in their structures or their impact. Likewise, there is nothing wrong with a person being single either.
So, balance is definitely the key in my mind.
January 28, 2015 -
y’all have really gone deep end and everybody knows it!!!!!!!!!!! And it’s no way you can dress this up!
January 28, 2015 -
Not all black people are monolithic and I view imperialists, white supremacists, and people who want to destroy human justice as people who have gone the deep end for real. People don’t have to agree with her decision. That’s fine with me. Likewise, she is not harming anyone and she is not messing with anyone. That’s her business. I wouldn’t do it, but that’s her choice.
February 7, 2015 -
Truthseeker, I like reading your posts because you are level-headed.
February 7, 2015 -
Thank You.
I appreciate your comments.
January 28, 2015 -
I view this as any other themed birthday party. Some people do a 90s theme, she chose a wedding. No more, no less.
January 28, 2015 -
no something is wrong in her head we just can’t keep making excuses for this kind of lunatic behavior.
January 28, 2015 -
Making excuses? I don’t know this woman. I see it as a themed birthday party. If you don’t and think she is a lunatics that is cool. This woman is traveling the world and living her life. I’m not mad at that and don’t judge.
January 29, 2015 -
ok
January 28, 2015 -
y’all have really gone off the deep end now on this one, what’s next have you no shame? and guess what a large percentage of y’all see some kind of logic in this shiiiii, this non sense, my god, what will they do next???????????
January 28, 2015 -
Hmmm……
January 28, 2015 -
Stop being so literal minded, y’all.
This ain’t new. Some folks were doing this in the nineties.. only difference now is that we have social media and the internet to mock and judge these folks. Yeah, she could have just had an “awesome self-love 40″party and spared us all the theatrics. It looks like an expensive, complicated way to tell the world “I am worthy and loveable..” i dont advocate it for all never-married women. while she is reinforcing the happiness=marriage narrative, this is the best way she could think of to get it on her terms. I’d rather she do this than marry some sucker for social validation. let her live, y’all. She ain’t thinking about us and she’s no threat to anybody.
January 29, 2015 -
Well she is a strong, free, independent, empowered black women and she don’t need nobody and she got the right to do as she please! What’s next?
January 29, 2015 -
Why couldn’t she have just thrown herself an awesome 40th birthday party?
January 30, 2015 -
Complete lunacy….next.
January 30, 2015 -
She’s got more issues than Jet magazine?
December 12, 2015 -
Things like this make me afraid I won’t find someone by 40 to be with either 🙁 I want a family and a long time to spend with said family. Yeah I know I’m young, but my future is always on my mind. Maybe she’ll divorce herself when she finds that love she wants. But how does that work? Does she get half of everything she owns? .-.