Is it now more common to get married in your late 30's (even for a woman)?

[Anonymous]

I'm 37 and within 15 days, it'll be the first time getting married. It's non-religious but still just as meaningful as religious. My father paid for most of my wedding expenses and for the 2 honeymoon flight tickets too.

The reason for the delay in my case is because I've been involuntarily single (being kept in the forever girlfriend zone.. the woman doesn't want to be single, unmarried.. but man won't proceed) for the longest. I've always wanted to get married since I was 20. After 2 failed, long-term relationships I had to ditch shitty dates, men trying to lovebomb me with ''I love you and I want marriage'' lies (online romance scam), and someone that was only interested in cohabitation. Finally after 17 years, it's reality.

Is this getting more common even among women, to get married in your late 30's?

[Lliam]

Congratulations!

I was 40 and my wife was 37 when we met. We got married two years later in 1996.
We've been happily married now for almost 28 years, had LOTS of fun, and built a wonderful life together.
I had girlfriends from the time I was 16, but I didn't even start thinking about settling down until I was in my earlyish 30s.
My wife just never met the right guy until she met me. Lucky me! 😃

I guess the majority of people have always gotten married fairly young - late teens to 30 for women. But that hasn't always been true for everyone, even back in the "olden days".

[Asker]

Thank you very much. I'm glad to hear you guys are still together after almost 28 years. Yes, both of you got lucky.

[Lliam]

May you have the same success. 💖

[beefcakebradybatson]

Yes. I believe the average bride's first marriage is at age 29.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it's definitely more common for multiple reasons. The biggest ones are women not taking dating or the search for a life partner seriously until they are much older, and less valued in the dating market. And second, most younger men are terrified of marriage because they see so many of their male friends and family members whose live have been ruined by divorce (half of marriages end in divorce, women file 80% of them and men get fucked hard in divorce court). Most younger guys have resigned themselves to never marry, so they just do casual sex or non-marital relationships instead, or just don't date at all because they don't see the long-term value for them. If they do decide to settle down and get married, it's much later in life. But overall, marriage rates are WAY down for those reasons.

[Asker]

I'm making it easier for my fiance (our ages are 37 and 50). He doesn't have to pay anything for the wedding expenses (he gets a free wedding, free wedding hearsal lunch/dinner party, free flight ticket) and I'll happily sign a prenup if asked to. I can't make it anymore easier than that.

[Opinion Owner]

You're good. I'm talking about marriage in general.

Keep in mind though that a man asking for a prenup is still a huge no-no today. The vast majority of women, if asked by heir fiancé for a prenup, would tell them to go to hell.

[Nikki1989]

What utter BS. There was a record high of 127,161 marriages just 2 years ago in this country.

[Opinion Owner]

@Nikki1989 Nope, not BS at all. I can't speak for you Aussies, but here in the US marriage rates have been declining for decades. One of the biggest reasons is that half of marriages don't last, it's women who file divorce in the vast majority of cases, and men get fucked hard in divorce court and child custody. Your opinion about that doesn't matter a whit given the actual facts, which are readily available to anyone who cares to educate themselves..

[Opinion Owner]

Thank you for MHO

[natured]

First of all CONGRATS, i'm so happy for you, and yes it is getting more common, I am 35 and I was pretty much just like you, for 8 years I was kept in the girlfriendzone, Men just don't move the same way like they used to.
But that relationship was toxic anyways.
I hope I will be able to live the same emotions like you right now with the man I am currently with. I am really happy with him regardless
BUT YES, GIRL YOU MADE IT

Wish you a wonderful life

[Simslover92]

I feel like it is. I know I'm 32, was with someone for over a year who I thought was going to marry me and now I have to start completely over so by the time I find someone, date, get to know them, and get engaged and married, it will be in my late 30s.

[Asker]

I think I saw your post earlier about your boyfriend giving you a promise ring or something. I'm sorry to hear things didn't work out. To be honest, it shouldn't ever take more than 2-3 years for someone to decide to get married. I was 35 years and 9 months when we first started talking, then we started dating by Nov 2023, got engaged by May 30 of this year and we're getting married within 15 days. I made it clear from the beginning I didn't want to waste my time again, didn't want a long boyfriend and girlfriend period either. In addition, I had my profile set to single and the only time I changed my status was when we were engaged.

[Asker]

if things work out, you might even have marriage in a year. The guy has to be like-minded and not take too long in the ''boyfriend and girlfriend'' period.

[Asker]

and do not ever accept a promise ring ever again, only accept either an engagement ring with a close wedding date or go straight to filing the marriage paperworks with him, straight to setting up the wedding date.

[Simslover92]

Thank you and yeah that's true. I'm so happy for you. Congratulations by the way.

[Simslover92]

And yeah I won't ever accept a promise ring again!

[Asker]

Thank you very much and I really hope you find him soon. I wish you the best on your journey to finding him.

[Simslover92]

You're welcome and thank you! I really hope so too!

[BullShark]

First of all, congrats on tying the knot. And yes, to answer your question, it is more common for people in today's day and age to get married much older than how they would have, say, ten or twenty years ago from now.

The most common reason for this, from what I can see, is that both the guys and a a lot of girls too, would rather stay independent for longer, excel at their jobs and save up enough, and then get married when they both can come together and live more comfortably than ever. Now given, you can still do all of that after you get married, yes, but in most cases, the arrangements of a wedding, the ring, the dress etc will set you off a couple hundred thousand alone, and some people don't always financially recover from that

[BCRanger10]

It is, but it really shouldn't be. Nothing against you, I got married later than I'd wanted to (was hoping by early to mid 20s, didn't get married until 31). And it's nothing against everyone else who's getting married late either. I just think that there are some cultural things surrounding dating and relationships that really need to change, as well as the way young people are formed.

[BCRanger10]

Oh yeah, and I'm sorry for not saying it in my original post, but CONGRATULATIONS 👏 🎊👏🎊👏🎊

[Asker]

Thank you. I'm currently pregnant. I was very imressed at how quickly my now husband (fiance when the conception happened) impregnated me. After 17 long years of no sex, I get pregnant right on the first attempts immediately.

[Anonymous]

It's definitely more common today than it was several decades ago. That doesn't make it a GOOD thing though. Kids growing up in a single parent household is ALSO more common today than several decades ago. Cancer and autism cases are also more common. But none of those are positive developments.

[Asker]

Yeah, I always wanted to raise a child within a marriage. A woman that gets pregnant by just a boyfriend is at a higher risk of being a single mother vs after marriage.

[Opinion Owner]

That's right. It's a tough balance and all you can do is the best you can from where you are. Would it have been better if you had found a great life partner when you were 25 and you got married and had all your kids before turning 30? Probably. But you are where you are. As long as you know what you're trying to accomplish and you're working towards it--it's all good.

[RavVid]

The median for women is somewhere between 29 and 31 for first marriage but like everything there will a distribution around the median. Some will be older than the median and some will be younger.

Since the median has increased substantially then age of first marriage in the late 30's has increased.

[Asker]

yeah I would've loved to get married years ago but the phrase ''better late than never'' can be applied here.

[RavVid]

Yes, it certainly does apply. Congrats on your wedding.

[Anonymous]

1. Calling yourself "involuntarily single" sounds like you are disavowing responsibility for what has happened in your dating life for the past 20 years. You made choices and you are responsible for the consequences.

2. At your age, you should not expect your father to pay all or most of your wedding expenses, You aren't a child. I got married for the first time at age 32 and I insisted that my bride and I pay all of the expenses of the wedding. That is what adults do.

[Asker]

It's a tradition and even with my cousin (who was 39 when she got married for the first time), her first also took take of most of her wedding expenses.

[exitseven]

Yes, many young people have protracted adolescences. They get married and have kids later in life. To see a woman that is 40 having her first baby is not as unusual as it was.

[LiamJHayden]

Yes. A lot want to finish university and get established first.

[Asker]

True, exactly.

[paledreams]

Hell nowadays as long as everyone's a legal adult - getting married at 30or 70 it's like - 🎇🎇🎇🎇🥳

[nolabels]

I was 35 when I married 30+ years ago.

[RingOfFire]

Unfortunately it is getting more common. It's leading to lower birth rates and if it continues it could threaten the survival of the human race.

[Asker]

I hope not. I'm actually impressed at how quickly my now husband impregnated me. Right on the first attempts was I got immediately pregnant.

[Asker]

It's interesting knowing I was very fertile the whole time... after 17 years of being inactive.

[RingOfFire]

The human body is an amazing creation.

[Jamie05rhs]

"The first time getting married.". With language like that, it probably won't be your last time, either.

[Asker]

Why are you negative?

[Jamie05rhs]

Why are you speaking of marriage as if it's repeatable?

[4ngelic]

it's pretty common nowadays yea

[DrPepper12]

Yes. Absolutely!

[slatyb]

Yes, it is.