Bride sells her house to pay for wedding day plastic surgery
Published: 2013 September 14 11:31:19 (7124 Views)
Bride Tsia Pullen was so determined to lose weight for her wedding that she decided to have plastic surgery – and sold her house to pay for it.
Mrs Pullen, who weighed 18 stone at her heaviest, spent £22,000 on a variety of cosmetic operations abroad, including a gastric band which helped her drop seven dress sizes and lose ten stone.
The money came from her £80,000 semi-detached house, which she put on the market within weeks of her engagement to her then fiance, Alastair.
Seven years on, the couple have finally tied the knot – and Mrs Pullen is convinced it all was worth it.
The 34-year-old said: 'People thought I was insane, but I knew it was the right thing to do.
'It was the first house I'd ever bought, it had a massive garden and I was proud of it. But more than anything I wanted to look amazing on my wedding day.'
At her heaviest, 5ft 1in Mrs Pullen weighed 18 stone and wore a dress size 24. 'I hated myself so much,' she said.
'I used to end up in tears when I went shopping – nothing fitted, and as well as the embarrassment, walking around the shops would leave me breathless and in agony as I was so big.'
In 2003 Mrs Pullen, who worked as a receptionist in a taxi firm, took a phone call 'from a friendly-sounding male voice, who turned out to be Alastair'.
'He'd only phoned for a taxi, but he was warm, funny and friendly, and for months we swapped messages and chatted on the phone before I plucked up the courage to meet him,' she said.
'I was certain he'd be put off by my body but Alastair didn't bat an eyelid. He loved me for me and our relationship quickly blossomed. Three years later, in 2006, he proposed.
'But then it hit me – this awful vision of a bulging bride waddling down the aisle. I didn't want Alastair to have to marry me while I looked like that. I wanted to be a beautiful bride.'
Mrs Pullen didn't have any savings, but she did own her own home. So she made the decision to sell the property, in Bolton, and move in with Alastair, who lived in Spalding, Lincolnshire.
The house sold for £80,000 and, after clearing the £55,000 mortgage, Mrs Pullen was left with £25,000 for her plastic surgery.
In April 2006 she travelled to a private clinic in Belgium for her first operation, a gastric band procedure which cost £8,000.
Mrs Pullen, who now runs her own business selling customised pram covers, said: 'It was a huge amount to pay for cosmetic surgery, and I know some people would think badly of me for it, but it was worth every penny.
'After every painful operation I kept telling myself that the end result would be worth it. When I started seeing the results, I could feel my confidence soaring. I felt like a brand new person and for the first time in my life, I felt sexy.'
The final operation on Mrs Pullen's list was a tummy tuck, scheduled for April 2009. But that, and the couple's wedding plans, had to be put on hold when she became pregnant with her son Mylo, now four.
Instead she had the operation in October 2009, two months after his birth.
Mrs Pullen was eligible for the tummy tuck on the NHS, because doctors agreed the excess skin she was carrying around her stomach was affecting her self-esteem and mental wellbeing.
The couple finally tied the knot on their ten-year anniversary, on May 18 this year.
Mrs Pullen said: 'I had my slim-fit wedding dress ready and waiting and I was so excited to put it on and walk down the aisle. I felt like a princess.
'I really do feel like the luckiest bride in the world. I don't regret selling my house to fund my surgery for one minute – it's easily the best thing I ever did.'
- DM
Mrs Pullen, who weighed 18 stone at her heaviest, spent £22,000 on a variety of cosmetic operations abroad, including a gastric band which helped her drop seven dress sizes and lose ten stone.
The money came from her £80,000 semi-detached house, which she put on the market within weeks of her engagement to her then fiance, Alastair.
Seven years on, the couple have finally tied the knot – and Mrs Pullen is convinced it all was worth it.
The 34-year-old said: 'People thought I was insane, but I knew it was the right thing to do.
'It was the first house I'd ever bought, it had a massive garden and I was proud of it. But more than anything I wanted to look amazing on my wedding day.'
At her heaviest, 5ft 1in Mrs Pullen weighed 18 stone and wore a dress size 24. 'I hated myself so much,' she said.
'I used to end up in tears when I went shopping – nothing fitted, and as well as the embarrassment, walking around the shops would leave me breathless and in agony as I was so big.'
In 2003 Mrs Pullen, who worked as a receptionist in a taxi firm, took a phone call 'from a friendly-sounding male voice, who turned out to be Alastair'.
'He'd only phoned for a taxi, but he was warm, funny and friendly, and for months we swapped messages and chatted on the phone before I plucked up the courage to meet him,' she said.
'I was certain he'd be put off by my body but Alastair didn't bat an eyelid. He loved me for me and our relationship quickly blossomed. Three years later, in 2006, he proposed.
'But then it hit me – this awful vision of a bulging bride waddling down the aisle. I didn't want Alastair to have to marry me while I looked like that. I wanted to be a beautiful bride.'
Mrs Pullen didn't have any savings, but she did own her own home. So she made the decision to sell the property, in Bolton, and move in with Alastair, who lived in Spalding, Lincolnshire.
The house sold for £80,000 and, after clearing the £55,000 mortgage, Mrs Pullen was left with £25,000 for her plastic surgery.
In April 2006 she travelled to a private clinic in Belgium for her first operation, a gastric band procedure which cost £8,000.
Mrs Pullen, who now runs her own business selling customised pram covers, said: 'It was a huge amount to pay for cosmetic surgery, and I know some people would think badly of me for it, but it was worth every penny.
'After every painful operation I kept telling myself that the end result would be worth it. When I started seeing the results, I could feel my confidence soaring. I felt like a brand new person and for the first time in my life, I felt sexy.'
The final operation on Mrs Pullen's list was a tummy tuck, scheduled for April 2009. But that, and the couple's wedding plans, had to be put on hold when she became pregnant with her son Mylo, now four.
Instead she had the operation in October 2009, two months after his birth.
Mrs Pullen was eligible for the tummy tuck on the NHS, because doctors agreed the excess skin she was carrying around her stomach was affecting her self-esteem and mental wellbeing.
The couple finally tied the knot on their ten-year anniversary, on May 18 this year.
Mrs Pullen said: 'I had my slim-fit wedding dress ready and waiting and I was so excited to put it on and walk down the aisle. I felt like a princess.
'I really do feel like the luckiest bride in the world. I don't regret selling my house to fund my surgery for one minute – it's easily the best thing I ever did.'
- DM
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