I left my fiance on our wedding day – it was the smartest thing I ever did

Better late than never.

A young Midwest bride woke up next to her fiancé on the day of their planned $40,000 wedding — and decided it was time to call it quits.

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.

But when the big day came, she found herself faced with a startling realization – she wasn’t happy.

Sharing one child with her future husband, the 24-year-old said the pair were high school sweethearts who started dating at 16.

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

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

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

Finally, faced with the prospect of perpetual dissatisfaction, she took action.

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

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

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

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

“I said, ‘We’re not getting married today,'” she recalled breaking the news to her flustered groom.

“He looked at me and said, ‘What are you talking about?’ and I said, ‘Do you really think this is a marriage?’

The young father of the bride wasn’t the only groom to be blindsided by a gap day.

Kayley Stead, a 27-year-old woman from Wales, was stunned and “cried” when her no-show groom left her alone at the altar during their September 2022 ceremony.

And jilted bride Andrea Noel obviously got “undressed” after her son-in-law gave her the letter that same month.

Seeking virtual revenge, the content creator blasted the drug on social media, revealing his many flaws — which included sharing a bed with his sister.

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

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

“I cried the whole day. It was terrible, – said Saya. “I took it harder than him. You’re giving up everything you’ve ever known.â€

“I was a stay-at-home mom at the time, so I had nothing,” she added. “I had no job, I had no money of my own. Everything was his.”

But Saya was most afraid of the backlash she expected to receive from family and friends—namely, her mother, who had introduced the five figures to their extravagant religion.

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

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

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

“I just couldn’t believe I had made the decision. I really regretted it maybe for a while,” revealed Saya.

“Then it came to a point where I was really glad I did it.”

She recently shared a series of selfies online.

The post, which has garnered over 144,000 views, featured a photo of her tear-stained face, which was taken on the day of her canceled wedding. The other was a smiling photo captioned “It’s been 16 months.”

“It’s something I’ll always carry with me and it’s a trauma I think I’ll always carry,” Saya said. “But I have found a way to cope and cope better with it.”

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

“It got to a point where if I couldn’t do it for her, then it’s just not fair,” Saya claimed. “This is her only childhood and I am responsible for it.â€

But the reason for breaking off the relationship on the wedding day remains a bit unclear.

“People think just because I say I left on my wedding day, ‘She just shouldn’t care or be able to do anything,'” quipped Saya, clarifying that the decision to put the kibosh on her bash was , “terrible. .â€

“Even my family said, ‘Well, why wait?'” she said. “I really 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 have never done anything malicious to him,” she swore. “I never meant to hurt her.”

Despite questions from confused critics, Saya’s virtual supporters have praised her for the “brave” move.

She is now beginning to find peace after the storm.

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

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

“Then I see it again and it reminds me again of the evil that outweighs all the good,” said Saya. “And that’s why I left.”

Hoping to one day marry her perfect partner and welcome more children, Saya encourages others to follow their hearts in matters of the heart.

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

“It’s the hardest thing to leave. I still can’t believe I did it,” said Saya.

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

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