Chen Wei-yih (陳薇伊) has posed for a set of photos in a flowing white dress, enlisted a wedding planner and rented a banquet hall for a marriage celebration with 30 friends.
However, there is no groom: Chen plans to marry herself.
Uninspired by the men she’s met, but facing social pressure to get married, the 30-year-old Taipei office worker will hold the reception next month in honor of just one person.
“Being 30 years old is a prime period for me. My work and life experience are good, but I haven’t found a partner, so what can I do?” Chen said. “It’s not that I’m anti-marriage. I just hope that I can express a different idea within the bounds of tradition.”
Her NT$50,000 wedding comes after online publicity that has netted 1,800 largely sympathetic comments.
“I think there will be more and more girls like this,” said “divagirl,” who did not elaborate.
Taiwanese women are marrying later and less often as their economic status advances. This trend has led to government concerns about the drop in the birth rate and its impact not only on productivity but also the future of the nation.
Only 40 percent of women surveyed earlier this year by the Ministry of Education said they imagined married people could live better lives than single people, local media said.
“I was just hoping that more people would love themselves,” said Chen, who will go on a solo “honeymoon” to Australia.
Chen said her mother had insisted on a groom at first, but later jumped aboard the solo marriage plan.
However, as Chen cannot officially register a marriage to herself, if she finds a man later she will wed again.
“If I had a steady boyfriend, I wouldn’t do this,” Chen said. “It would be offensive to him, anyway.”
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