Poll: How Old Were You....

[LittleBrownCat]

when you got married? Got an email from a former co-worker today, who said that he and his girlfriend are talking about marriage. I'm glad that they're talking about it, because I think it's important to make sure that both parties are on the same page, matrimonially speaking. But he's only 22, and still going to college. The general opinion seems to be that he should wait until after he's finished school, and I tend to agree. But it got me thinking (always a dangerous thing :p ) about age and marriage. For the record, I was thirty-one when I tied the knot.

[Hammster]

23 here. DW was 20 and still in college. Kind of good she was as that's what got me cooking so dinner would be ready when she got home. :D

We've known each other since she was 14 and me 17. (High School sweethearts!)

[Gumbeaux]

The date ranges remind me of another recent poll. :D I fit into two different ranges.

[BlueMoose]

I assume you're asking about the first time....I was 24.

[Terri_A]

I was 26 when I got married and 32 when I got divorced.:rolleyes:

[MKSquared]

What happens if you were 19?

[cocoa'smom]

I was 29 and DH was 30.

[LittleBrownCat]

What happens if you were 19?

Oops. Don't suppose I can edit a poll? :o

[aggie94]

I was 26, DH was 28. Been together since we were 17/19.

[slknight]

I was 28; DH was 26 (almost 27).

[Chelle D]

I would think most get married between 20 and 30 so maybe the poll should be split to be 18-23, 24-30....just to see who was really young. I was married a couple weeks after turning 26 and actually felt a little old getting married at 26 compared to some of my friends and relatives.

[MusicMom]

I was 27, DH was 25 when we got married. We dated for about three years before we even discussed the subject of marriage.

It was the right age for me- I wasn't mature enough to handle marriage before then. However, I know people who were ready at 22.

[tamawrite]

I was 20 the first time, as was my ex. (I still believe that *I* was ready, but my ex was not.)

The second time, I was still in the 20-30 category. 25, I think. DH was only 23 at the time -- but a mature 23. :)

[gertdog]

I was 30; DH was 28. We were together about 5 years before we got married.

[mom2garret]

23 here. First and only time. Happily still! Many people have died and left my life but I still feel like it was yesterday. Except when DH pi$$es me off! :p
Jodi

[Terrie53]

What happens if you were 19?

My question too.??!!:confused: I was 19 and I am still married to the same DH! Oh yeah! 35 years on Saturday, 10/21. He's my high school (honey)sweetheart! We are obviously devoted to each other. We worked together to build, develop, and establish our careers while raising our children.

So, MSK, am I in >18 or the next catagory? :rolleyes: Who cares...it all worked out okay. :D

PS I didn't vote!

[do-lolly]

I was 21 and DH was 24. I turned 22 a week after our wedding. We are about to have our 19th annivesary this year.

[ljt2r]

I agree that 20-30 is not a very good range--getting married at 22 is pretty different from 28! I was 29, almost 30, but still 29 so I marked 20-30. DH was 31.

Laura

[Leslie Ferguson]

I was 20, just over 2 months from turning 21, LW was 24 just under 2 months from turning 25. We celebrated 24 years 10/1. When we got married we had known each other for about 18 months but had met (and I didn't make an impact mind you) a year before that.
Les

[little_bopeep]

I was 31 when I got married, thinking it would be for the rest of my life. The rest of my life turned out to be four and a half years, so divorced when I was 36. The second time, I was 42...we got married on the 5th anniversary of our first date. It's been 5 years so far...I'll keep you posted. :rolleyes: :o

[cookinprogress]

I was 30, and DH was 31. Looks like I qualify for two ranges on the poll. :)

I was talking to a new person at work who told me last week that she got married when she was 16! :eek: She is 24 now (I think), and still married to the same person.

[Grace]

I was 23 the first time. Divorced by 27. I didn't get remarried until I was 35. Now I'm 44 and still happily married! :D My goal is to make it to my 50th anniversary. Marriage doesn't run in my family, unfortunately, and I have always dreamed of a good marriage. Now I have one and I want it to be a long one! :D

[stefania4]

I was 33, DH was 31. That was pretty consistent with the age at which most of my friends got married, but was much older than my parents or grandparents were used to seeing.

[honeygirl1971]

I was 33, DH was 31. That was pretty consistent with the age at which most of my friends got married, but was much older than my parents or grandparents were used to seeing.


Same here as far as social group goes, although I was 33, DH was 37. All my friends who are married got married in their 30s. Apparently, that's not at all common in this BB, though! ??

[vbak]

I was just 20 and DH was going to be 24. It was 39 years in August. Where did the time go?

[Blissful_in_TX]

I was 25; DH was (and still is) much older :p It's been 5 and half years so far.

[newtricks]

I was 31 and so was dh. We met when we were in our mid-20's but neither of us were ready for marriage or even being with someone who was "marriage material". But when we started dating "in earnest" we were engaged in six weeks and married a few months later. That was 1993.

[lindrusso]

I was 24, DH 25. Married 17 years this past September.

Being 41 doesn't make me feel old at all, but being married 17 years made me stand up and take notice! That and my upcoming 20th college reunion......... :eek:

[cumulus]

I will be 24 when I get married, he'll be 25 :D. We both wanted to wait till we were done with school (he'll be done in May with his MBA) and were actually able to find a city we both can have a job in (hasn't happened yet!). We're both pretty antsy at this point.

[muriel3002]

What happens if you were 19?

I was 19 too. No voting for me. ;)

[wallycat]

DH was 21 or something like that his first time and his lasted 19 years.

I was 36 when I married DH.
It is 14 years so far!!

[nanco]

42 ! First timers for my husband & I . He was 47.

[Kristal]

I was 34, DH was 40. We got married on the 10-year anniversary of our first date, so it felt like we were married already. :)

[linsleyd]

I had just turned 25 and DH was 23, we met when he was 19 and I had just turned 21.

We'll be going on eight years this year!

[jellyben]

I was 19, a few months shy of 20. We are still together 14 years amd 3 kids later, but I sometimes wish I had had more time to be a kid so to speak.

[Alethea]

I was 29, DH was 36. I think our first date was 6 years prior to that, but we probably only dated for 3-4 years total because we were a very off-and-on couple for a while.:o Thankfully we figured it out in the end.:)

[jadenegro]

I was 22 and DH was 23..We got married right after I finished undergrad.

[SusanMac]

Wow, this is an early-starting group around here. I didn't know! Most of my friends were in their mid-30s when they got married. I was 30, DH 31.

[jem927]

I was 20 when I got married - divorced by 24... Now, I'm 38, and happily dating someone who I hope will be in my life forever. :-)


Jamie

[Kiwismommy]

We were both 21 when we got married - almost 36 years ago! We "met" in grade 7, went through high school, worked together in a grocery store for years. We went on our first date on his last weekend of work before he headed off to University and have been together ever since! :)

[emilyn]

I was/am 36, DH 40. We were together 5 years before and been married almost 4 weeks! :D

[raka1214]

I turned 18 years old 1 week & 1 day before I got married to DH who was 19 and 3 days from turning 20. We started dating when I was 14 and he was 16 and will be celebrating 22 wonderful, long, short, hard, easy, wouldn't change them for the world, wished we had waited until we were older, happiest years of my life:D

Honestly, I look back now and wouldn't change a thing - I know we were young but it was just right for both of us. He is my best friend in the world and I know that no matter what I go through in life I know that he will be there and that I want/need him by my side.

I remember when my grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary - my DGF was terribly sick at this point and no one was sure whether or not they would make it - DH asked my DGF how long they had been married and DGF looked at DH, tears filling his eyes, and said, "not nearly long enough" - Lordy, that makes me cry even now and he's been gone for 14 years.

[HRJ]

I was 28; DH was 33. We've been married 18 years.

At the time, I referred to myself as an "ancient" bride :rolleyes: , because I knew so many people who had gotten married when they were in their early 20s (especially in my large, extended family--I think everyone had started to think of me as the "old maid" cousin.) That makes me laugh, now. And several years later, there was another flurry of mid-30s weddings among my friends.

Helene

[hlao23]

I was 24 and DH was 30. We were both in college. In hindsight, I think I was too young (or perhaps too inexperienced). We've been married 14 years...currently seperated but still trying to work it out.

[kim21]

Yes, no voting for me either...I was 19 and DH, 21...We've been married happily married for 27 years...I am a better person and my life is so much richer because of the relationship that I share with my husband...:)

[Meganator]

I was 33, DH was 42. Married 8 years now.

[EllenL]

I was 22 when we met, 23 when we got married. Just celebrated our 30th!
We met right at the beginning of grad school. It was kind of embarassing because I had announced to my classmates that I would NEVER get married until I was at least 30!

I'm surprised that the majority of people here got married so young, since you always hear that people are waiting until much later to get married. Maybe it's because this site attracts people who are into the domestic arts!

No regrets about getting married young, although I do realize that I did miss out on living on my own as a young adult---went from living with my parents to living with my husband.

[sararosalie]

I was 28; DH was 33. We've been married 18 years.

At the time, I referred to myself as an "ancient" bride :rolleyes: , because I knew so many people who had gotten married when they were in their early 20s (especially in my large, extended family--I think everyone had started to think of me as the "old maid" cousin.) That makes me laugh, now. And several years later, there was another flurry of mid-30s weddings among my friends.

Helene

I had the same experience...a few of my friends got married in their early 20s, a bunch got married in their mid-late 20s and we've been to a flurry of weddings for friends in their mid-late 30s.

For the record, I was 34 (almost 35) and DH was 33 (almost 34).

[LA98]

I had just turned 29, DH had just turned 40 (first marriage for both of us). We dated for 6 1/2 years and were engaged for 6 months. That was 9 years ago.

[SheRa]

i was 24, DH was 31. we waited till i got out of college, we got a house, and saved up enough to pay for the wedding before we actually did it (we were engaged for 1 1/2 years).

[Mpenny1001]

We were both 23. We've been married over 12 years. :D

[Curiosity Hears]

I was 40 and DH was 46. First marriage for me second for him. Until I met DH marriage was a dirty word to me. Once I met him, I knew immediately we would marry.

[Cherise]

I was 27 when we got married, DH was 43. He was married before, he was 23, she was 18-that lasted 18 years. He says now that part of the reason for that marriage ending is that he thinks she was too young when they got married. DH and I will celebrate our 10 year anniversary next year. We were together for 2 years before we got married, but moved in together after only a couple of months of dating. He would have been fine if we'd gotten married right away, as he said he was sure about us, but since I'd only had a couple of other boyfriends, and none serious, I considered the living together as sort of a trial period, to see if it was right. After about 4 months we got engaged. I'm very happy, and he says he is so much happier than he was the first time around. I always thought I would like to get married right out of college, but I'm glad that I ended up waiting till my later 20's. I had enough time to hang out with girlfriends, do the bar thing, and party a bit. I don't think there is a magical age for when it's right, it just depends on the person, and how well suited the couple are for each other.

[AvrilH]

I was 22, was in my first year of law school. DH was 32 (second marriage).

Like Ellen - I had sworn I'd not marry until I was at least 30! Wasn't even interested in a BF. Best laid plans.........

As for the original post - I think it depends on the person. Most 22 yo people I know are not ready for marriage and kids. But I don't think anyone was shocked (once T and I had been together for 2 years) that I was up for it.

However, I have to add that mortgage+law school tuition was not fun.

It's been almost 13 years for us and we are still on track for the next few decades together.

[Kahlico]

Marriage 1 - I was barely 20 and Ex-DH was 19.

Marriage 2 - I was just a few weeks shy of 29, and DH was 36. We are going on 4 months now!

~Emilie~

[clairea]

I was 25 and DH was 27.

[LakeMartinGal]

We were both 23 -- college sweethearts! And we'll celebrate our 39th anniversary in February 2008! We had a rough patch about 20 years ago, but it all worked out well, and I can't imagine life without him!;)

[MrsReber]

I was 29 (almost 30) and DH was 30. Dated for 3 years, lived together for over 2. I would've gotten married right after we met, but Mr. "everything will change if we get married" took some convincing. And he was right- everything did change, and all for the better :) . Celebrated 8 years in September, but we've been together for almost 11.

[stacy7272]

I was 26 and DH was 27.

We got engaged after 7 months of dating and then got married a year later.

[SusanMac]

This is really, really fun to read!! So many great stories!

[Jalapeno]

DH and I just got married earlier this year. We were both 32 (we're 33 now) and had been dating for 4 1/2 years when we got married.

[LaraW]

I was 26, DH was 28 when we got married. We had been together since I was 19 and he was 21. We will celebrate 9 years of marriage next Wednesday. :)

[Puppylove]

I was 20 (3 months shy of 21) and DH had just turned 31, it was the first marriage for both of us and we've been married 6.5 years. I've never regretted getting married so young and I appreciate the age difference between us, I think it has made our marriage easier. If he had been 21 I bet that would have been a difficult transition. At least one of us had a career and some financial stability - I think that helped A LOT! And I had lived on my own for 2 years at that point so I wasn't going straight from parent to husband, also a benefit.

[testkitchen45]

I remember when my grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary - my DGF was terribly sick at this point and no one was sure whether or not they would make it - DH asked my DGF how long they had been married and DGF looked at DH, tears filling his eyes, and said, "not nearly long enough" - Lordy, that makes me cry even now and he's been gone for 14 years.

This story put a lump in my throat. My parents are really getting up in years and will soon celebrate 52 years of marriage. I pray they just keep going, and going, and going . . .

I was 25 and DH was 27 when we married (happily! :) ). Both our folks had long (lifetime) marriages; it's a good example to us and to our kids. For us, it was important to be living on our own for a few years after college, as you grow up so much after graduation.

[AndreaU]

DH and I were both 25. That was 13 years ago. :)

[badunnin]

Another one that can't answer - not married. :)