I dumped my fiancé on our wedding day — it was the smartest thing I ever did By Asia Grace

I dumped my fiancé on our wedding day — it was the smartest thing I ever did
By Asia Grace
Published Jan. 17, 2025, 3:47 p.m. ET
Better late than never.

A young bride-to-be from the Midwest woke up next to her fiancê on the day of their planned $40,000 wedding — and decided it was time to dump him.

Alexis Saya, of Huntington, Indiana, had gone to bed the night before excited for what she said would have been a “beautiful” celebration of love.

Advertisement

Alexis Saya, crying on her wedding day, from TikTok.
8
Saya, a now single mom of one, says calling off her wedding day-off was “terrifying,” but the “best decision” she could have made for herself and daughter.
Kennedy News and Media
But when the big day arrived, she found herself facing a surprising realization — she wasn’t happy.

Sharing a child with her hubby-to-be, the 24-year-old said the pair were high school sweethearts who began dating at age 16.

Explore More
collage of Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont
The 10 safest states in the US in 2025 — and six of them are in one region right near NYC
A person holding a phone and scanning a QR code
Americans are annoyed with ‘tipping culture,’ leaving fewer gratuities
Celebrities Keanu Reeves, Alexandra Grant, Hugh Jackman, and Sutton Foster in a collage
Age-appropriate love is 2025’s hottest trend — I’m looking at you, Hugh Jackman and Keanu Reeves
Advertisement

Both “young” and “stupid,” according to Saya, the pair intentionally became pregnant and engaged in 2020, despite the on-again, off-again nature of their tumultuous union.

It was a rocky romance that lasted from 2019 until their scrapped big day in April 2023.

“I knew that I wasn’t happy in the relationship,” she admitted. “I just always tried to make myself believe that I was because I loved him.”

Alexis Saya after getting engaged.
8
The Gen Z says she knew she’d been trapped in a bad relationship with her ex, but stayed in the name of love.
Kennedy News and Media
Advertisement

Finally faced with the prospect of unhappily ever after, she took action.

“It was about 6 a.m., I said ‘I’m sorry, we can’t get married today,’” Saya told Kennedy News.

“I didn’t want to but I knew that I had to,” she continued, adding, however, “it’s best decision I’ve ever made even if it’s hard to accept. The relationship wasn’t a good relationship.”

Alexis Saya in a bride-to-be sash.
8
Online, Saya refers to her ex as her “abuser.”
Kennedy News and Media
Advertisement

Saya has since shared a few sordid details about the breakup with her TikTok audience of over 15,000 viewers. In one post, she refers to her child’s father as an “abuser.”

“After my daughter was born we had broken up a few times and got back together a few times,” Saya explained. “I think I had, in total, three or four rings because of how many times we’d broken up.”

“I said, ‘We’re not getting married today,’ she remembered of breaking the news to her groggy groom.

Alexis Saya on TikTok.
8
Saya has openly shared some sordid details of her relationship with her growing social media fanbase.
Kennedy News and Media
“He looked at me and was like, ‘What are you talking about?,’ and I said, ‘Do you really think this is a marriage?.”

The bolting bride’s baby daddy wasn’t the only betrothed to be blindsided by a day-of ditching.

Kayley Stead, a 27-year-old Welsh woman, was stunned and “sobbing” when her no-show groom left her standing solo at the altar during their September 2022 ceremony.

Alexis Saya in her wedding dress.
8
Saya worried that loved ones, including her mom, would be disappointed in her for calling off the $40,000 wedding.
Kennedy News and Media
Advertisement

And abandoned bride Andrea Noel admittedly became “unhinged” after her groom-to-be gave her the slip that same month.

Exacting virtual revenge, the content creator blasted the dope on social media, divulging his many flaws — which included sharing a bed with his sister.

“I was so in love with him,” said Noel in a viral TikTok. “And I had convinced myself that [he] was the best I could ever get.”

Alexis Saya smiling on TikTok.
8
Saya says she’s now learning to cope with her decision to finally end things with her jilted fiancé.
Kennedy News and Media
Advertisement

After delivering the painful news, Saya and daughter Avielle fled to her mother’s house.

“I cried that whole day. It was awful,” said Saya. “I took it harder than him. You’re giving up everything you’ve known.”

“I was a stay-at-home mom at the time so I had nothing,” she added. “I didn’t have a job, I didn’t have money of my own. Everything was his.”

See Also
(Left) An upset bride on her wedding day. (Right) Newlyweds taking a selfie after tying the knot.
Bride duped into marrying influencer in fake ceremony for followers — but it was actually an elaborate scam
Advertisement

But Saya was most fearful of the flak she stood to receive from family and friends — namely her mother, who’d laid out the five-figures for their extravagant fête.

“When you do make decisions like that you think everyone’s going to hate you,” said Saya. “That’s how I felt. I thought I was going to lose my mom because she paid for the wedding. I was terrified.”

Almost immediately after pulling the plug on her nuptials, the runaway bride was hit with a wave of remorse.

“I remember thinking, it was about 3 p.m., ‘I’d already be married now,’” she said. “I got into a really bad place after the wedding.”

Advertisement

“I just couldn’t believe that I’d actually made the decision. I regretted it so badly for probably a while,” Saya revealed.

“Then it came to a point that I was really happy that I did it.”

She recently shared a series of selfies online.

The post, which amassed over 144,000 views, featured one photo of her tear-stained face, which was taken on her canceled wedding day. The other was a smiley snapshot labeled “It’s now been 16 months.”

Alexis Saya and her four-year-old daughter, Avielle.
8
The mother of one credits her child with giving her the courage to walk away from an unhealthy situation.
Kennedy News and Media
“It’s something that I’ll always have with me and it’s a trauma that I think I’ll always carry,” Saya said. “But I’ve found a way to cope and deal with it better.”

“I think it was absolutely the best decision for me and my daughter,” insisted the mom, who credits her toddler as the “biggest reason” she walked away from the toxicity.

“It came to a point where if I couldn’t do it for her, then it just isn’t fair,” Saya asserted. “This is her only childhood and I’m in charge of it.”

See Also

Groom slammed for ‘humiliating’ bride on their wedding day — only for it to be a joke: ‘Leave him at the altar’
But her reason for ending the relationship on her wedding day remains a bit unclear.

“People think just because I say I left on my wedding day, ‘She just must not care or be able to do whatever,” Saya scoffed, clarifying that the decision to put the kibosh of her bash was, “terrifying.”

“Even my own family said, ‘Well, why did you wait?,” she said. “I genuinely went to bed that night thinking I was going to wake up and get married.”

“I would never have chosen it to be that day. I never did anything maliciously towards him,” she swore. “I never wanted to hurt him.”

Questions from confused critics notwithstanding, Saya’s virtual supporters have praised her for making the “brave” move.

She’s now beginning to find peace after the storm.

“Everytime I see him it’s a reminder of why I left,” said Saya.

“I always wonder sometimes, when it’s late at night and I’m in bed and I’m lonely and I’m just like, ‘Oh, I wish I just had my family back,’” she said, acknowledging that in those fleeting moments of sorrow she’s only thinking of their “good times” together.

Alexis Saya smiling.
8
Saya looks forward to getting married and building up a happy family.
Kennedy News and Media
“Then I see him again and it just reminds me all over again all of the bad that outweighs all of the good,” Saya said. “And that’s why I left.”

Hopeful to one day marry her perfect partner and welcome more kids, Saya encourages others to follow their hearts concerning matters of the heart.

“I would tell anybody that if you even have a question of if you should leave then you should,” she said, “it might be the best decision you ever make.”

“It is the hardest thing to do to leave. I still can’t believe I did it,” Saya copped.

“There’s still times it’s hard but I have to remind myself I will find somebody that loves me and my daughter,” she said.

“I cannot wait to get married one day. I can’t wait to have more kids.”

Read More
Filed under breakups brides gen z TikTok viral videos weddings 1/17/25
Read Next
Wife makes husband pay her a monthly $206 ‘woman tax’ …
Top Concerts
Vividseats: Official Ticketing Partner of New York Post
Get seats. Earn rewards. Experience it live.
Coldplay
29 Shows | Get Tickets
AC/DC
13 Shows | Get Tickets
The Eagles
15 Shows | Get Tickets
Brooks and Dunn
19 Shows | Get Tickets
Julion Alvarez
3 Shows | Get Tickets
See More Shows
Now onPage Six
Taylor Swift dines with BFF Ashley Avignone, her parents in NYC ahead of Travis Kelce’s playoffs game
Taylor Swift dines with BFF Ashley Avignone, her parents in NYC ahead of Travis Kelce’s playoffs game
Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s son Connor shares rare photos from his 30th birthday celebration
Bob the Drag Queen shades Zac Efron’s acting skills during heated ‘Traitors’ roundtable
See All
Now onDecider
R.I.P. David Lynch: Iconic Filmmaker Behind ‘Twin Peaks’ Dead At 78
R.I.P. David Lynch: Iconic Filmmaker Behind ‘Twin Peaks’ Dead At 78