I left my fiancé on our wedding day that cost my mother £32,800 - but it was the best thing I ever did

A mother who jilted her fiancé on their wedding day said it was the 'best decision' she's ever made - even though she was 'terrified' everyone would hate her.

Alexis Saya was due to marry her ex-partner on 16 April 2023 in Huntington, Indiana, US, but made the 'hard' choice to leave on the morning of their big day. 

The couple first met in high school and share a four-year-old child together. 

They had been on and off for years with Alexis staying in the relationship despite knowing she 'wasn't happy'. 

Even though she had no job and faced becoming a single mother, the 23-year-old woke up on her wedding and just 'knew' she had to cancel the celebrations her mother had paid £32,800 for.

Alexis described how she turned to her partner while still in bed on the morning of the wedding and said 'we can't get married today' - before leaving him soon after. 

Taking to TikTok, the student nurse shared a photo from her wedding day compared with a current picture, which has since gone viral with 144,100 views. 

One photo shows a tearful Alexis and is captioned 'the day I left my fiancé on our wedding day'. 

The next image shows her beaming at the camera with the caption 'it's now been 16 months'. 

Many TikTokers took to the comments to praise the mother for her 'brave' decision while others questioned, 'why the wedding day?' 

Alexis wants to encourage others to leave a relationship if they are 'questioning' it and insists that she 'cannot wait to get married one day' to the right person. 

The mother, who lives in Fort Wayne, Indiana, US, said: 'I don't think that I've genuinely ever done anything harder. 

'I felt like it was a decision I had just made but almost I didn't have a say in it. I didn't have control over it. 

'It was about 6am. I said "I'm sorry, we can't get married today". He kind of looked at me and went back to sleep. 

'I went into another room and called my mother. My sister was on the phone with other family telling them that I wasn't going to go through with it. 

'I wanted him to go grab our daughter so that I could leave because I didn't really want to be there when everyone woke up and realised that I wasn't going to get married. 

'I woke him up again and said "I need you to go get her". He was super confused and I said "we're not getting married today". 

'He looked at me and was like "what are you talking about". And I said "do you really think this is a marriage". He went and got her and I left. 

'I didn't want to but I knew that I had to. I cried that whole day. It was awful. I took it harder than him. You're giving up everything you've known. 

'I was a stay-at-home mother at the time so I had nothing. I didn't have a job, I didn't have money of my own. Everything was his.' 

Alexis took daughter Avielle straight to her mother's house before moving back into her old apartment. 

While she got into a 'bad place after the wedding', she now believes it was the 'best decision' she's ever made. 

Alexis said: 'Right after I had wished that I'd gone through with it. I remember thinking, it was about 3pm, "I'd already be married now". I got into a really bad palace after the wedding. 

'I just couldn't believe that I'd actually made the decision. I regretted it so badly for probably a while. Then it came to a point that I was really happy that I did it. 

'I knew that I wasn't happy in the relationship and I knew that. I just always tried to make myself believe that I was because I loved him. 

'It's something that I'll always have with me and it's a trauma that I think I'll always carry but I've found a way to cope and deal with it better. 

'But I think it was absolutely the best decision for me and my daughter. 

'[My daughter] was probably the biggest reason I left. It came to a point where if I couldn't do it for her, then it just isn't fair. 

'This is her only childhood and I'm in charge of it. That's the best decision I've ever made even if it's hard to accept. 

'Every time I see him it's a reminder of why I left. 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". 

Alexis revealed the pair were on and off between 2019 and 2023 and things changed when they started planning the wedding but she will always be 'thankful' for their daughter.

'I think of only the good times and then I see him again and it just reminds me all over again all of the bad that outweighs all of the good. And that's why I left.' 

The couple first met when they were just 16 years old and got engaged in 2020 after having their first child together. 

She said: 'The relationship wasn't a good relationship. We were young, we were stupid. 

'We purposely had a baby young, which I would never regret. He gave me the best thing ever in my life. I'm forever thankful to him for that. 

'After my daughter was born we had broken up a few times and got back together a few times. 

'I think I had in total three or four rings because of how many times we'd broken up. 

'We'd finally in 2022 started planning the wedding. It was going to be a beautiful wedding. I was very excited. I think things kind of shifted for me.' 

Alexis admitted she had never planned to end the relationship on her wedding day and feared the 'terrifying' decision would make everyone 'hate' her. 

Alexis said: 'When you do make decisions like that you think everyone's going to hate you. That's how I felt. I thought I was going to lose my mother because she paid for the wedding. I was terrified. 

'I feel like people think just because I say I left on my wedding day "she must just not care or be able to do whatever". It was terrifying, truly. It was very hard. 

'Even my own family said "well why did you wait". I genuinely went to bed that night thinking I was going to wake up and get married. 

'You also only see a snippet of the situation. I think it's all situational. 

'I would never have chosen it to be that day. I never did anything maliciously towards him. I never wanted to hurt him. 

'We had talked on the phone that day after I left. Maybe 4pm. I was just crying "I didn't want to do this to hurt you. I just couldn't do it".' 

The mother encourages others to leave a relationship if they are having doubts and 'cannot wait' to get married in the future. 

Alexis said: 'I would tell anybody that if you even have a question of if you should leave then you should. 

'And you might go back but you might not and 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. 

'There's still times it's hard but I have to remind myself I will find somebody that loves me and my daughter. I cannot wait to get married one day. I can't wait to have more kids.' 

Many users praised Alexis in the comments. One TikToker said: 'You are so brave. So any people wouldn't do this even if they felt it.'

Another added: 'Congrats on putting yourself first.' 

A third said: 'That must have been so hard.' 

Yet other social media users criticised Alexis for waiting until the wedding day.

One said: 'Why the wedding day?' 

Another questioned: 'Why do people always wait for the wedding day. That's so scary.'