By Xiu Ying, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Entrepreneur Jussara Dutra Couto, 38, hasn’t been sleeping well. She is anxious and nervous about the commitment she will enter into on Sunday at 3:30 PM.
Jussara will get married and fulfill her dream of walking into a church dressed in white. However, the wedding is somewhat uncommon: she will marry herself.
Yes! There’s no groom as she intends to celebrate “self-love.”
Sologamy celebrations of people marrying themselves have been going on for some time in many countries.
But Jussara, who created ‘Eu comigo evento,’ a company specialized in holding solo weddings, believes it to be the first ceremony of this nature in Brazil.
“I’ve been working with wedding ceremonies for 20 years, but the will is real. I’m so happy and so well with myself that I wanted to throw a party for myself and marry myself,” she states.
The ceremony is very similar to a monogamous wedding. Jussara will be in white, wearing a dress designed by stylist Tetê Rezende.
She will be entering alone, but will be met by her daughter Maria Laura, 21 years old, in what she calls “inverted entry”. “My daughter will walk off the altar towards the ramp, where I will step out of the car. She’ll hand me the bouquet, and I’ll go in by myself,” she says.
Sologamy wedding is not legally regulated. A friend of Jussara’s will conduct the celebration.
There is no exchange of wedding rings, but to mark the commitment to herself, Jussara got a tattoo of a woman with butterfly wings. “The butterfly signifies struggle and rebirth.”
There will be the traditional entrance of bridesmaids and best man who, in place of the wedding ring will carry the vows to be read by Jussara.
“It’s a celebration of self-love. I wanted to make a commitment to love myself,” she says.
She’ll take her vows looking in the mirror. At that point, all 100 guests will be invited to do the same. “Guests will receive hand mirrors so that they can also take vows of self-love.”
After the ceremony, which will be held in open air at a plaza in the Santa Lúcia neighborhood, the bride will be greeted at a party with a band, DJ, and a drinks bar. “On top of the cake, there’ll be a woman with butterfly wings,” she says.
As sologamy weddings have not yet become popular, many people find it strange when Jussara says she is going to marry herself.
“People’s first reaction is one of astonishment. But I tell them I’m celebrating my love. A lot of people ask me if I want to be alone. I say it’s not just about that. I reply that it’s about the moment I’m going through in my life”, she adds.
Jussara has received many wedding propositions. “There are many men who say this is a waste and that if I want to, they will marry me,” she says.
Jussara points out that the sologamous bride may have other romantic relationships other than her own company. And, according to her, sologamy marriage is not only for women but for everyone who wants to celebrate self-love. “It could be a man, and it could be a woman. The LGBT public is enjoying this very much,” she adds.
“Many women dream of getting married and dressing as a bride. Sologamy marriage brings this possibility, and the woman does not need a partner for it. It is love in its purest form: self-love,” she said.