Getting Married Young?

[bedogged]

I was 17, spouse was 20. Now that I am a great grandmother, I tell everyone I was a child bride.....not that anyone believes me.

 

[Acklander]

I consider anything under 25 to be young today. 30 years ago was a different story, and 30 years before that was an even different story.
I think why the average age is creeping upward because not as many young people consider marriage to be as important or as necessary.

 

[Ginny Favers]

I got married at 24 and in our family and circle of friends, yes, that was young.

Most of our friends got married around the age of 30, and had kids right away.

We waited 10 years to have kids, and so we ended up "old" for having kids! Loved being "advanced maternal age".

 

[SaraJayne]

I would consider 24 to be about right for getting married and 30 "old".

DH was 21 and it was my 22nd birthday when we got married. We've been together for 17 years.

 

[MIGrandma]

DH and I were barely 18 each when we got married, and yes I consider that young. He was established already in his farming career with his Dad, he had started "buying into the business" when he was 16.

We have been married 37 years and still going strong.

I consider teens and 20's to be young, 30's to be average age to get married I guess.

 

[momto2girls]

I got married when I was 24, almost 25. I felt that was really young. I remember feeling rather embarrassed to tell people that I was married. I'd already finished grad school at that point, but it still felt young.

 

[Desnik]

I was 22 and DH was 26 when we got married. (we had dated and lived together for 3 years before we married) We have been together 19 years (married 16 this July) At the time, I did not think we were young. My older sister had gotten married at 21 and my mom was 16 when she married my dad! (unfortunately both couples are divorced now)

Now if my DD came to me at age 22 and told me she was getting married I would be yelling, "you're too young!!"

 

[disykat]

24 doesn't seem that young to me either, and I got married at 29.

I think getting engaged and thinking about marrying before you are 21 seems young. I also think it's "young" if you are not yet self supporting. I would lilke to see my kids both those things before they even think about marrying.

 

[fairestoneofall]

i had just turned 22. DH turned 24 a few months after our wedding. we both had college degrees at that point, so i don't consider us too young. most of my high school friends were married by the or within a year after us.

 

[mousefanmichelle]

I was 5 days shy of 21 and my dh was 24. That was 21 years ago and I feel we were very young to get married. My oldest is going to be 19 and I keep thinking to myself there is no way I would want him to be married at 21. I want him to experience his life and live it to the fullest and then settle down.

 

[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]

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]

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]

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]

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