Woman spends $40,000 on solo wedding for her 40th birthday

A woman spent more than $40,000 on her own solo wedding on her 40th birthday - before heading to Paris on a "me-moon."

Brittany Allyn, 40, jetted to Northamptonshire from New York to ring in her birthday in style with a weekend of celebrations.

She invited 35 of her nearest and dearest to join her at a Grade I listed aristocratic estate - turning what she says was a "daunting" time into her "looking forward" to entering her fourth decade.

With a love for Princess Diana and British aristocracy, Brittany booked out Hinwick House, Wellingborough, and worked with event planner Louise Wright to put on a Saltburn themed wedding bash on the first evening complete with a Millia London deep-v tiered tulle skirt wedding gown.

The following day was a shooting day with guests donning Ralph Lauren attire and eating a traditional English picnic.

That evening the house was transformed into Studio 54 for a metallic themed evening that partied into the late hours with a surprise saxophonist.

Sharing how she wanted it to be an "empowering moment". Brittany says the message behind the bash was to show women they do not need "someone else to complete" them and can celebrate themselves.

Brittany, a content creator, from New York City, US, said: "I think last summer I woke up and it was August 7 and I was like 'wow, in six months I'm turning 40, I'm on countdown now'.

"I was like 'OK, I can't stop it, so what if I do something that's going to make me feel better looking forward to 40 instead of being depressed for the next six months?'.

“I waited for 20 years for all those moments – speeches from friends, a slideshow of memories – and I decided to put them all together into one event.

"I was talking to friends and saying 'what is something I absolutely love?' and my two biggest passions in life are Princess Diana and the British aristocracy.

"I found the manor just by googling, saw it had 20-something rooms and thought 'OK, that's great – I'm just going to email all my favourite people from different chapters of my life I just want to spend two days with."

"The first night was the wedding.

"I didn't want it to be cheesy and I didn't want it to be sad I just wanted it to be empowering.

"I did this viral video I filmed quickly before I went down the aisle.

"I filmed that moment to show that I had waited 20 years dreaming of getting married and waiting for someone else to complete me and make memories, when I could just do it myself."

Brittany worked with stylist to the royals and celebrities Olivia Buckingham to find the perfect gown – a Millia London tulle number, followed by a second by Annie’s Ibiza for the first night’s dinner.

She said: "I had a team for my hair, make-up, photography and content – five people for that.

"I had a very iconic bridal suite and whilst I was getting ready I wore a blue lace cute outfit.

"My aunt, Pamela Allyn, 74, was there - who is basically like my mom - and she gave me a special heirloom watch which was my something borrowed.

"I did all those moments.

"I did a bridal-ish photoshoot around the property.

"At 7pm we had a champagne tower going and violinists playing 'Canon D' the famous wedding song.

“We partied into the wee hours in the living room – like it was straight out of Saltburn”.

Brittany's brother, Ricky, 36, walked her down the stairs - acting as the 'aisle' to greet her guests.

An elaborate Saltburn-esque dinner followed - with a martini fountain and truffle fries station and millennial hits playing all night long.

"I gave a lovely speech sharing a quick memory of every guest there, bonding them together.," Brittany said.

"The second day was a Princess Diana day of shooting and we had a whole catered picnic.

"I rented a 1980s Defender and someone drove it two hours down to us from a car dealership.

"We had every type of scone and English sandwich and everyone was dressed up to the nines in Ralph Lauren gear."

The second and final evening saw the Hall transformed into Studio 54 and Brittany had silver balloons covering the whole ceiling.

Guests enjoyed a huge dance party until the early hours with a saxophonist and disco-themed cupcakes.

Brittany said: “I realized I might have just have thrown the first women’s empowerment event in the hall’s history.

"That house was 300 years old and I'm the first woman to pay for every single dime for the event myself and probably the first woman that threw an event itself.

"It was an empowering moment for all the women before us in terms of generations of women who didn't have rights, finally a woman could throw an event at such a historic venue.

"The message is not just to be a bride, it's more just about how do you celebrate you – you might have all these moments and dreams of wanting a wedding.

"I got to do all the little moments I never had."

Brittany headed to Paris for a 'me-moon' - something she was the creator of - rather than a traditional honeymoon to "decompress" after her birthday celebrations.