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The most expensive wedding, the longest marriage and other unbelievable records.
By denise ngo — Written on Mar 04, 2023
Our hearts melted when we read this piece on Herbert and Zelmyra Fisher of New Bern, N.C., who hold the record for the world's longest marriage. Herbert, 104, and Zelmyra, 101, have enjoyed 86 years of wedded bliss.
According to Mashable, Herbert, and Zelmyra, married in 1924, enjoy sitting on their front porch and counting cars.
As if that weren't adorable enough, the two tweeted love advice to the masses between February 12 and Valentine's Day on their joint Twitter account, the aptly-named @longestmarried.
Here are 10 truly unbelievable wedding and marriage records:
Of course, Herbert and Zelmyra aren't the only couples that inadvertently set a world record in pursuit of true love. Here are a few other wow-worthy wedding and marriage records:
1. Greatest age difference in marriage
The Straits Times reported in November 2006 that Sudar Marto of Malaysia, 105, married Ely Maryulianti Rahmat, a 22-year-old maid, in September. That's an 83-year age difference! At the time, Sudar was still married to his 69-year-old bedridden wife, who welcomed Ely into their union because she appreciated the young girl's caregiving.
2. World's tallest married couple
This ain't a joke—Keisha Bolton, who is six-feet-five-inches, married Wilco van Kleef, seven feet, after looking for a dance partner in the U.K. Tall Person's Club. The two are a combined 13.3 feet in height.
3. World's shortest married couple
Douglas Maistre Breger da Silva, two feet eleven inches tall, and Claudia Pereira Rocha, three feet, married in 1998.
4. Biggest wedding cake
If you're going to have a mega-sized wedding, you might want to consider a cake that is 17 feet high. The Mohegan Sun casino's monstrous creation weighs 15,032 lbs and can feed 59,000 people. Now that's a lot of vanilla frosting.
5. Longest engagement
Octavio Guillen and Adriana Martinez got engaged in 1902, when they were both 15 years old, and married at age 82. That's a whopping 67 years of procrastination! We'd love more details on the years in between.
6. Most marriages in a lifetime
Now here's a story that belongs on a Lifetime TV show. Glynn Wolfe, who also holds the record for the most divorces, married 29 times during his 88 years of life. His shortest union lasted 19 days, and his longest one seven years. The first marriage occurred in 1926, and the last one in 1996, to—get this—Linda Essex, who held the record for the female with the most marriages. Best publicity stunt ever?
7. Oldest bride and groom
Francoise Fernandez and Madeleine Francineau married in 2002 at an old-folks home in France when the two were 96 and 94, respectively. Love knows no age, indeed.
8. Most marriage vow renewals
Lauren Lubeck Blair and David E. Hough married each other for the 83rd time in 2004. We wonder how many times they've renewed their vows since.
9. The largest difference in weight
Jon Brower Minnoch, who weighed 1,290 lbs, had two sons with his wife, Jeannette, who weighed 110 lbs. He died in 1983 after five years of marriage.
10. Most expensive wedding
Vanisha Mittal, daughter of the world's fifth richest person, married investment banker, Amid Bhatia, in Versailles. The six-day extravaganza, which included a reenactment of the couple's courtship and a performance by Kylie Minogue, reportedly cost $55 million dollars.
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Denise Ngo is a freelance web writer and editor who specializes in love, dating, and relationships. She is the Managing Editor of Lovelyish and a writer for PopSci.