Boomer wedding bliss goes big
More proof times have changed — brides aged 55 and over having dream ceremony
Sherry Lynne Heller-Wells always wanted a fairy-tale wedding.
So when she tied the knot last year, she spared no detail.
She walked down the aisle in a flowing ivory gown with a long veil and lacy bolero jacket.
Ten flower-toting bridesmaids and seven groomsmen were in the wedding party. And after the ceremony, 100 guests dined on beef tenderloin, clams casino and a threetier vanilla cake.
The cost, including a fireworks show during the reception, was $45,000 US.
Heller-Wells wasn’t some blushing new bride, though.
When the retired registered nurse, 64, wed her husband, Clyde, a small-business owner who is 65, it was her second time at the altar.
“I met my Prince Charming. He swept me off my feet,” says the Clearwater, Fla., widow whose first husband died in 2003.
“We’re hoping this will be the last marriage. Why not celebrate?”
Only a few years ago, it was considered in poor taste for a bride over age 55, particularly if she had been previously married, to do things like wear a fancy wedding gown, rock out to a DJ at the reception or have the groom slip a lacy garter belt off her leg. But those days are gone: Older couples no longer are tying the knot in subtle ways.
The trend in part is being driven by a desire to emulate the lavish weddings of celebrities of all ages.
But it’s also one of the results of a new “everything goes” approach that does away with long-held traditions and cookie-cutter ceremonies in favour of doing things such as replacing the first husband-andwife dance with a group re-enactment of Michael Jackson’s Thriller video.
That’s left older couples feeling less conscious about shelling out serious cash to party like their younger peers.
“The rules are out the window ... whether it’s what you’re wearing or the cake you’re serving,” says Darcy Miller, editorial director of Martha Stewart Weddings, a wedding magazine. “Sixty is the new 40 and that is reflected in the wedding.”
Couples age 55 and older made up eight per cent of last year’s $53-billion wedding business. But that number has doubled since 2002, according to new statistics, and it’s in part because more couples are marrying in their golden years.