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Dating can be a minefield.
But after years of romantic heartache, Brazilian Cris Galera believes she’s finally found someone who will never let her down: herself.
Photos recently went viral of Cris, dressed in a traditional white bridal gown outside a church in São Paulo, looking radiant after swearing to love and cherish herself forever.
“I wasn’t ashamed, I went to church with determination,” Cris (33) told New York Post about her wedding for one. “I did my own makeup and hair and everyone was watching because I didn’t have a fiancé,” ), the lingerie model and influencer said.
After experiencing her fair share of disappointment, she decided to give up the search for Mr Right.
“Men have difficulty being faithful or staying with just one woman. They want several [women] at the same time,” she explained.
Although many people thought Cris was kidding when she married herself, she says she made a promise to herself and intends to honour it. So she wasn’t impressed when an wealthy Arab sheikh approached her with a marriage proposal after reading her story, offering her a $500 000 (about R7,5 million) dowry if she’d divorce herself.
She has branded the offer as “sexist”, adding that she isn’t for sale.
Cris says finding a man used to be a priority for her but after leaving her small town and moving to São Paulo to make a name for herself as an influencer she quickly realised she didn’t need anyone.
“I was always afraid of being alone, but I realised I needed to learn to feel good about myself,” she says. “When that happened, I decided to celebrate it.”
Sologamy – the concept of marrying oneself – isn’t new. It’s a symbolic act that’s been around for years and even Sarah Jessica Parker’s character Carrie Bradshaw, a notorious dater in the ’90s series Sex and the City, gave it a go in one episode.
But Cris insists that for her it isn’t just a passing fad. And to prove it she’s even taking herself off on honeymoon to romantic Paris in November.
Even though she’s made a commitment to herself, she hasn’t entirely closed the door on one day allowing someone else into her life. “I’d never divorce myself,” she says. “But also if a new love appears, I will want to live the experience.”
But whoever it is will have to be happy with always holding second place in her heart.
“First it will always be me,” she says. “I will not be disappointed, I will not betray my trust and I will love myself above all.”
SOURCES: NYPOST.COM, MEAWW.COM, DAILYSTAR.CO.UK, HELLOGIGGLES.COM
