Marriage Age

[preciousjeni]

I was 27 which was a little young in my opinion. If it weren't for that biological clock, it would be nice to allow people a chance to get through their twenties before marriage - not just because of age, but because the twenties are pretty turbulent already with school, first jobs, first homes, etc.

[aephi alum]

Aside from laws about how old you must be to marry in your state/province/country, there really is no "right age".

That said, among my friends and acquaintances in my age group, there have been two "waves" of weddings. Some of us got married within a couple of years of college graduation; others got married in their late 20's.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by aephi alum

Aside from laws about how old you must be to marry in your state/province/country, there really is no "right age".

That said, among my friends and acquaintances in my age group, there have been two "waves" of weddings. Some of us got married within a couple of years of college graduation; others got married in their late 20's.

That is exactly how it's turning out with my college friends. A few of us got married within a year or two of graduation (my wife and I got married in 2005, 2 years out of school; I was 24, she was just about to turn 24). Then, there was a bit of a break, and now the past year or so it's picked up again. Two of my college friends are getting married next year, and there may be more on the horizon.

I agree that it's tough to put a "right age" on it. Some people are ready in their early 20s, some get married in their 30s or 40s and aren't ready at all.

[WVU alpha phi]

I was actually discussing this with my boyfriend and friend from HS the other day. I'm from Maryland, and my HS graduating class (2003) had 650 kids. I'd say probably 100 of them (that I'm aware of) are now either married, engaged, married with kids, or single with kids. I feel like every time I get on facebook someone new is engaged.

I think it comes from maybe only half of that graduating class going to a 4 year college. And a LARGE majority that go to 4 year colleges attend ones in state within 30 minutes of our hometown. So they don't seem to branch out, make new friends, etc. I've looked through pictures and asked why they're all still hanging out together 5 years later, no new friends in sight. Also, when they graduate from college, they move back home. So any friends they may have made in college are no longer around.

As far as my college friends go, only one of my close friends is married. She and her husband met in the fall of our freshman year and got engaged summer before senior year. She'll be 23 this spring and he just turned 28. I've had several sorority sisters get married or become engaged recently, most are 24-26. They all live in the mid-Atlantic or NY.

Now that I'm in the south, I see people definitely get married younger. My boyfriend is 23 and he grew up here and has several friends who are already married or engaged. One is already separated, they were married less than a year. I don't feel any pressure to get married at this age (I JUST turned 23), but I do know that I'd like to be married within the next few years, hopefully around 25 or 26.

[ISUKappa]

Originally Posted by KSigkid

I agree that it's tough to put a "right age" on it. Some people are ready in their early 20s, some get married in their 30s or 40s and aren't ready at all.

Yep. I was 24 and the husband was 27 when we got married. That's what worked for us. I'd say about half my pledge class is married and half isn't, and most of us are pushing 30 now.