Getting Married Young?

[daughtersrus]

I was 21 and DH was 22 when we got married. We'll be married 27 years in a few weeks.

On the other hand, my brother married a girl that was 20yo. She was married and divorced with 2 children by the time she was 15yo. Needless to say, their marriage didn't last too long either.

[LisaR]

I wouldn't define 24 as really young.

DD (17) has a friend who was married at 18 and pregnant six months later. They seem very much in love and it is working for them, but it totally skeeves my DD out. She posts pictures of her belly and my DD can't even wrap her head around the concept of being married and pregnant at that age.

[BlovesC]

I think this depends on what generation you are and what region you're from. Almost no one in my HS graduating class were married until they were at least 25, and most of my friends still considered THAT young, whereas my father's generation would have considered it a bit old.

I was kind of shocked when I moved to FL...many of the 'natives' in my area were married at 19 or 20, WHILE in college or before starting college, and the general consensus down here seems to be if you're not married and/or having kids by age 25, it's never going to happen. One of my coworkers got pregnant with her second child at age 37 and it was a huge scandal. No one here could fathom having a baby at such an advanced age.

[SaraJayne]

Originally Posted by daughtersrus

I was 21 and DH was 22 when we got married. We'll be married 27 years in a few weeks.

On the other hand, my brother married a girl that was 20yo. She was married and divorced with 2 children by the time she was 15yo. Needless to say, their marriage didn't last too long either.

Yikes! Can 15 year olds even legally get married?

[jgh]

My fiance and are getting married in April 2014.

We will both be 22 (me only by one week, and him by about seven months).

Honestly I think it depends on the couple. There are some people that are mature enough to be married at 16 or 17 (regardless of negative stigma attached to getting married that young...) and there are some people that aren't mature enough to be married even when they're 25 or 30. I really think it depends on the individual people.

[Wendy31]

DH was 22, & I was 21 when we got married. We got married in April, & DH had turned 22 in January. I turned 22 in July, so, basically, we got married halfway between our 22nd birthdays.

This April will be our 18th anniversary.

At the time, I didn't consider us young, but, in looking back, we were young!

I guess I consider anything under 21 really young to get married, & I consider mid 20s about average.

[skuttle]

I was 21 and DH was 24. We started dating in high school so we had been together a while. Now, when I think back, I think I was so young and wouldn't want my kids marrying that young, even though we've been happily married for almost 13 years.

[daughtersrus]

Originally Posted by SaraJayne

Yikes! Can 15 year olds even legally get married?

Apparently in Arkansas they could. She was married at 14 and divorced by 15. When my brother moved there, he said that everyone assumed he was gay because he wasn't married yet. He was 19yo! Much different from the suburbs where he grew up.

[SaraJayne]

Originally Posted by daughtersrus

Apparently in Arkansas they could. She was married at 14 and divorced by 15. When my brother moved there, he said that everyone assumed he was gay because he wasn't married yet. He was 19yo! Much different from the suburbs where he grew up.

[PeeWee70]

I was 20 and my husband was 21. And we lived together for two years before that. 24 years together this year Yes, I think that is young and I wouldn't recommend it for my girls. My husband and I grew up in dysfunctional families and we both left at 17/18. We had to grow up fast.
I would like to see my girls experience life and finish college before they settle down.
It's funny too because I always felt I was never going to get married because all my girlfriends in high school had long-term boyfriends and I didn't. I was the first to get married and still am after they have been through even a couple marriages.
When you get married young, I feel you really are growing up and changing together and need to have a lot of tolerance and commitment.

[Piglet4Ever]

I was 24 and DH was 28 when we got married, I thought I was old!! We are going on 17 yrs. I would classify 18-20 as being pretty young to get married.

[lovesmurfs]

DH was "on the shelf" at 33 when we married, but I was 22. Going on 23 years this year!

[Pea-n-Me]

Originally Posted by joedplumber

So today at work while talking to a coworker it came up in conversation on how I have been married for 11+ years. At which point she remarked OMG you must of got married young. I replied that my wife and I were 24 when we got married and she confirmed that we were definitely young at that age.

I would take that more as a statement of how she thought you looked young, as in, hard to believe you've been married for 11 years when you look like you're in your twenties. Do you look young?

[kamik86]

Honestly it partially depends on when the marriage occured.

I was married at 22 4 years ago. Which I feel was young mostly just because I only know a handful of others that were married that young. I also wasn't out of college yet, I graduated 6 months later.

However anything past 20 doesn't seem young when I look at when those who are now 40 or over got married.

I think its because when high school was enough to get a good job marrying after high school was normal. Now that so many are getting at least a 4 year degree most are waiting until after they gradate to plan the wedding resulting in 24+ for most people.

[kamik86]

Originally Posted by Pea-n-Me

I would take that more as a statement of how she thought you looked young, as in, hard to believe you've been married for 11 years when you look like you're in your twenties. Do you look young?

My husband gets this one alot. He was 24 when we married, but when he meets new people at work and says he has been married for 4 years most don't believe him at first... because he looks like he MAY be able to pass for 22.