The Women Who “Stopped the Wedding”—and Never Looked Back

She is one of hundreds of women who—as part of a viral TikTok trend—shared their story of coming to their senses and ending their relationship right before a wedding. In these TikTok videos, women share photos and videos of themselves in their previous relationships—sometimes even trying their wedding dresses on—with the words of Ashe’s viral song “Stop the Wedding!” playing in the background. In the song, Ashe sings, “Even though the table's set, the guests are waiting, you can burn the dress and run away.

Stop the wedding.” The song is catchy, but it’s also a warning cry to women that it’s never too late to save yourself from a lifetime of misery tied to the wrong person. And it often actually takes something as monuments as an impending wedding to figure out a relationship isn’t working. And sometimes that forces you to confront something you've been trying really hard to avoid.” This was the case for Katherine Woller, 39.

There was no cheating partner or big fallout—just a gut feeling she couldn’t ignore. The feeling started the moment her boyfriend got down on one knee. Even with the gorgeous backdrop of Champagne, France, she couldn’t shake the thought that she was making a mistake by saying yes.

It was only two weeks before her wedding when Woller stood in front of the mirror wearing her would-be wedding dress during a fitting, feeling utterly detached. This is called a Sunk Cost Fallacy. And even though, via its label you understand it isn’t true, in the moment, it feels like you’ve put too much in to the relationship to leave it.

Therapist Justena Kavanagh, LCSW explains that once you’re engaged, the deposits, the guest list, and other people’s expectations build momentum. She had bought the dress, finalized the venue, and was the only woman in her family who wasn’t married or a mother. The pressure was very real.

But, when she had been followed out of a cafe by a strange man and called her fiancé crying, his first response had been, “What were you wearing?” “I told him to come collect his two-carat engagement ring,” she says. When your gut is screaming at you that you’re with the wrong person, ignoring it feels like abandoning yourself. This is why so many women stop the wedding—and why Ashe wants to remind us that despite our fears of letting others down, it’s always better to walk away.