On her 32nd birthday in August 2018, Oxford University student Lulu Jemimah surprised everyone by marrying herself at Quepasa Bar in Kampala, Uganda.

She made this unconventional choice to escape her parents’ constant pressure about marriage.

Lulu, a master’s student in creative writing, was fully committed to her academic goals and had no interest in traditional marriage at that time.

In her words:

”I have a strong passion in life and I am committed to achieving my goals of becoming an academic. ”But all my family wanted to ask me was when I planned to get married – which is very important back in Uganda – followed by when I would be having children and starting a family.”

Continuing, she said: “My father wrote my wedding speech when I turned 16. Every birthday my mother prayed for me and in recent years this has included a plea for a good husband. ”But I just didn’t want to think about walking up the aisle. It’s not the thing which keeps me up at night.”