Oldest ever bride and groom prove it’s never too late to find true love
These record-breaking marriages prove once and for all that it’s never too late to find true love.
Long gone are the days when a person was considered to be ‘on the shelf’ if they weren’t married by a certain age.
The average age for people to tie the knot these days is 31, compared to around 23 back in 1970.
With the online dating industry estimated to be worth round $2.98 billion in 2023, it seems there are still plenty of people out there looking for ‘The One’.
And don’t worry if you haven’t found your special someone just yet, as these brides and grooms go to show that you’re never too old to say “I do”.
The oldest bride ever was a woman named Minnie Munro.
The Australian was 102 years old when she tied the knot on 31 May 1991.
Her husband, Dudley Reid, was 19 years her junior at age 83, when they said “I do” in Point Clare, New South Wales.
She broke a record set by Winifred Clark (UK) in 1971, who married 80-year-old Albert Smith, at St Hugh’s Church in Cantley, South Yorkshire, the day before her 100th birthday.
The oldest bridegroom to ever walk down the aisle was a man named Harry Stevens, who got hitched when he was the grand old age of 103.
He wed Thelma Lucas, 84, at Caravilla Retirement Home in Wisconsin, USA, on 3 December 1984.
Before him, George Jameson was the oldest groom in history when he married Julie Robinson, 53, in Honiton, Devon, UK, on 10 March 1995.
He was 102 at the time.
Of course, being the oldest person to ever get married isn’t the only way to have a record-breaking wedding.
Tina Ackles (USA) set the record for most bridesmaids to one bride in 2015 when she had a whopping 168 of them standing by her side.
While Alex Simmons (UK) had the most ushers to one groom with 97 of his mates joining his ceremony in 2015.
John and Susan Waters (UK) made their wedding day one to remember by staging the deepest underground wedding ceremony.
Their nuptials took place 137.16 m (450 ft) below the surface at Llechwedd Slate Caverns, Blenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd, Wales, in May 1999.
The largest mass wedding ceremony in a prison took place in 2000 when 120 inmates married their fiancées at Carandiru Prison in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
An even bigger mass wedding took place in India this year.
The most couples married in 12 hours record was set by 2,143 loved-up pairs in Baran, Rajasthan.
Both Hindu and Muslim marriages were performed during the event, which also broke the record for the most couples married in 24 hours, which was set by 963 Yemeni couples in 2013.
And of course, it’s not just humans who can make the ultimate commitment to one another.
The largest dog wedding ceremony took place in Littleton, USA, in 2007, when 178 pairs of pooches got married at the Bow Wow Vows event organized by the Aspen Grove Lifestyle Center.
Guinnessworldrecords.com
