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Original poster

To think 26 isn't that old to not be married?

54 replies

CurlyRover · 26/12/2017 18:20

I'm currently reading me before you. Just got to the bit where the main guy character asks the main girl character why she hasn't ever been married. The way it's asked suggests he's shocked she hasn't been. But she's only 26! She was too embarrassed to tell him she'd never been asked.

That really isn't that old to have not been married or to have not been asked is it?

I'm 27 and although I have been asked, I thank my lucky stars I didn't go through with it. I wasn't feeling bad about the fact DP and I are not engaged, we've only been together a few years. But now I'm starting to think maybe I'm past it and I hadn't even realised!!

OP posts:
SchadenfreudePersonified · 26/12/2017 18:22

Course it isn't!

TBH, unless you intend to have a child, I wouldn't blame any woman for not wanting to marry at any age.

ThePinkOcelot · 26/12/2017 18:22

No definitely not too old.

BahBumHug · 26/12/2017 18:23

I married at 27, by far the youngest of both family and peers! Fair few still aren’t, or only just are (we married almost 9 years ago!)

Gennz18 · 26/12/2017 18:24

That's nuts! None of my friends were married or even engaged at 26.

BarryTheKestrel · 26/12/2017 18:25

Definitely not. I married incredibly young at 22. I'm now 28 and colleagues/people who don't know me well are often surprised to find out that i'm married.

MerrierAndMerrier · 26/12/2017 18:25

Is it an old book? Or set in another country where early marriage is the norm?

Personally, I'd consider 26 fairly young to be married in this day and age.

Tapandgo · 26/12/2017 18:26

Not too old at all!
Married in my thirties - (two boys later and still happily married).

DearTeddyRobinson · 26/12/2017 18:26

Pfft no one proposed to me until I was 35, married at 37, 2 kids later I'm glad I had all those years to do my own thing.

Eatingwormswithwine · 26/12/2017 18:27

I got married in my 40’s!

EnglishRose13 · 26/12/2017 18:28

I married at 24. I do think it was young but not too young.

EmilyChambers79 · 26/12/2017 18:28

I love that book!

Don't worry OP, I was 34 when I was proposed too. Practically ancient!

Tistheseason17 · 26/12/2017 18:29

At 35 yrs here!

NoFucksImAQueen · 26/12/2017 18:29

That's how old I was so no not old

sagamartha · 26/12/2017 18:31

Considering many people end up in long term relationships without getting married, I'm not sure if there is a right age to get married, if at all.

Gah81 · 26/12/2017 18:31

Early 30s and getting married next year. Still have tons of friends who are single or not married. Enjoy being unmarried and you are right to take your time.

My brother rushed into a marriage with someone (who had been pressuring him to do so) who then stole his money and whacked him over the head with a frying pan. So definitely worth waiting for the right person!

sonjadog · 26/12/2017 18:33

When was the book written/ in what time is it set?

amusedbush · 26/12/2017 18:33

I got married a couple of weeks before I turned 26 and I was by far the youngest of my friends to get married!

TantrumsNSprouts · 26/12/2017 18:33

26 is no age.

I was married at 30 (ith a child already...the scandal! Grin).

I have frend sin their thirties and forties with and without children who arent married through choice or havent yet married by circumstance.

Chicklit is a world of its own, sure.

EmilyChambers79 · 26/12/2017 18:43

When was the book written/ in what time is it set

Set in current time, think it's about 5 years old, it's a film now.

Book is much better though

FairyLightsQueen · 26/12/2017 18:50

No it's not particularly old to still be single.

However, 26 is an age where many women would be a bit 😫😯🤨 if they were still single, and had never had a fairly long-term relationship by that age..

Thing is, whether people like to admit it or not, the fertility shelf life for women is limited, and after 30, it starts to diminish, and it starts to decline very rapidly after 35.

I know a bunch of posters will come along and say they didn't meet their man til 35, didn't marry til 38, and didn't have a baby til 43, but the fact is that most women would not choose this, and many women would start to panic about if they were still unattached at 26. Not necessarily married, but definitely in a fairly long-term relationship, (with the intention of getting married soon.)

ChristmasAddict · 26/12/2017 18:59

Married at 25 and DH was 22. Now nearing 30 and our friends are just starting to get engaged but plenty are still either single or in a couple but not engaged. We were very young really although I don't regret it :)

Humpsfor20yards · 26/12/2017 19:02

and many women would start to panic about if they were still unattached at 26

Panic?

Many/most women would not.

NotSuchASmugMarriedNow1 · 26/12/2017 19:04

It's not too old to not be married HOWEVER you need to get on the housing ladder before you are 30 really

Reallytired17 · 26/12/2017 19:05

But she was working class, op. That’s why he was shocked she had never been married.

(I hate that book.)

Gwenhwyfar · 26/12/2017 19:07

"However, 26 is an age where many women would be a bit 😫😯🤨 if they were still single, and had never had a fairly long-term relationship by that age.."

Not sure about that. Some of my friends started worrying slightly in late twenties, knowing that the ideal time to have children was early thirties (in our opinion, I accept that some people disagree). At 26, I don't think it was on our minds at all.
I think it's a bit different for people who leave school young though. If you've been working since you were 16, maybe 26 seems much older.

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