This might just be my favorite real wedding we’ve featured on Southern Weddings. Ever. Andy of Donnan Photo submitted his grandmother’s — yep, grandmother’s — adorable wedding, and we had no choice but to feature it. As Andy says in the little write-up we asked him to send in, “It’s comforting to know that you can be in love at any age.” Check below for even more from this adorable, intimate, and joyful wedding (and check out a few more photos on Andy’s blog!).
Ruth and Jerry’s video:
Ruth & Jerry from Andy Donnan on Vimeo.
From Andy, the grandson and photographer:
“When I head that my grandmother was going to get married after just a few months of meeting Jerry, all of us were a bit worried, but what can you really do? She’s happier than ever before and there’s no way any of us were going to stand in the way of that. It’s clear that they are in love and I’m proud of them for doing it right, even in their 80’s.
She then said that they wanted to have a tiny ceremony, which ended up being on Tuesday at the church they both went to at some point in their life. I basically gave her no choice but told her I had to be at their wedding. After I showed her the photographs, she was thrilled that I was there to witness and record the event. Both of our families are very grateful for that.
My girlfriend and I arrived at the chapel about 45 minutes prior to the ceremony. We greeted Ruth and Jerry, who were sitting in the pew with the rings, flowers, and each other. We all waited for the pastor to arrive, and then an intimate wedding took place with just the five of us in the room.
I asked Jerry to hold the rings in the palm of his hand. I was amazed at how steady he could hold them, despite being nervous before the wedding. It was actually cute to see the both of them nervous! It’s comforting to know that you can be in love at any age.
After the ceremony, it was cute to watch Jerry carefully assist his new bride outside of the chapel, where I had them stand for just a few images before they drove off in his Buick.”
Congratulations, Ruth + Jerry! We’re so happy you found each other, even if it did take awhile! :)
Oh, my, this is beyond awesome! Thanks for such a cute, uplifting start to the day!
Okay, I have to admit, this made me tear up. There is always hope to grow love and find love! Good for them!
This gave me goosebumps. These two are beautiful, thank you for sharing!
oh my god, this is the cutest thing i’ve ever seen!
Agreed. Best wedding ever.
Oh my gosh this MAKES my day. No one "gets" love like someone in their eighties. They’ve lived and learned what truly matters in life is the people you love. So beautiful :) Thanks for sharing this SW!
I love this! So sweet!
How adorable! I teared up looking at these shots. I wish this couple a very happy life.
This made my heart melt and eyes water. Even pulled my husband out of the bathroom mid-shave to come see. So so sweet.
This makes me smile :)
This is so adorable!!!
Love this. So awesome. Love knows no boundaries.
I absolutely love it.
This is the first entry on the blog that has made me cry. It’s lovely. Thank you so much for this!
This is the first entry on the blog that has made me cry. It’s lovely. Thank you so much for this!
This is the first entry on the blog that has made me cry. It’s lovely. Thank you so much for this!
This is the first entry on the blog that has made me cry. It’s lovely. Thank you so much for this!
This is the first entry on the blog that has made me cry. It’s lovely. Thank you so much for this!
This is the first entry on the blog that has made me cry. It’s lovely. Thank you so much for this!
Oh, this is precious!
so sweet…..
Awwwww I LOVE it!!
Love this! They are so beautiful. :)
This is so stinkin’ cute!!!
This is so sweet!!!
this post makes me miss my grandparents even more. thank you SW for posting this beautiful, heartfelt, and utterly sincere wedding! a wonderful way to start my day!!!
OMG, I totally teared up at this. This wedding is sooo sweet especially the sweet old man. I hope they are so happy together!!!!
Sweetest thing ever!
Truly beautiful! It is easy for a 20-something bride to look innocent and full of hope on her wedding day…..it is quite another story when a senior can have that same look of innocence and hope and wonder and faith in love after living her life and experiencing the ups and downs that she met along the way. This is such a testament to the power of love.
Just adorable. And think about how the vows must take on a whole new meaning to them at this stage in their lives. Thanks for posting!
This is the sweetest thing ever! What a treasure these images are! :)
This is so lovely..thanks for sharing the beautiful day!
This is such a moving wedding. I LOVE that love exists no matter what age.
I LOVE this!!! So touching and so glad SW decided to share :) I think it’s great to celebrate love, regardless of age
so so so adorable! definitely a favorite too.
brought tears to my eyes. thanks for sharing!
This brought tears to my eyes, a truly beautiful couple. Just absolutely lovely, and they have all my best wishes in all the worlds. Congratulations to them!!
I can’t believe how cute this couple is! I just hope my wedding can compare! All I know is that my groom is a stud, just like Jerry :)
LOVE :)
Totally made me cry!!! Love is timeless!
Totally made me cry!!! Love is timeless!
Totally made me cry!!! Love is timeless!
Totally made me cry!!! Love is timeless!
Totally made me cry!!! Love is timeless!
Totally made me cry!!! Love is timeless!
Tears in my eyes after seeing these sweet images! How inspiring! Congratulations Ruth and Jerry!! : )
This is so wonderful to see. Both Ruth & Jerry look very happy.
Real love…simple and pure!
Well, I agree! This has to be my favourite wedding, ever :D
Fairy Tales do come true!
That may be one of the sweetest weddings ever. LOVE it! What beautiful photographs, and what a touching story.
that’s so sweet!!!! :D
I look at pictures of weddings all the time on blogs, but this is the first one that was so sweet it brought me to tears! Bless them.
What a lovely story! Fantastic to see that the heart knows what it wants, for your whole life.I would, however, like to caution the writers, readers, and posters to think about the adjectives they use when describing elderly men and women. Words like "cute" and "adorable" are suitable when describing a child or a pet, but not an elderly person or their activities. As someone who works closely with older men and women I am keenly aware of the indignities and insults that are directed towards this very vulnerable population. I apologize for getting "PC", but people who have reached an advanced age really need to be revered and respected. It is a difficult thing to remember sometimes (like when reading a touching story about marriage and love). Even I need to work at it!Thank you,Julia Jay
Yay! Good for you guys!I say this because my grandmother remaried at 86 to a younger man, age 82. The community pitched in and she had a gorgeous wedding in 3 weeks time that didn’t look thrown together at all. While they’d known each other for 60 years previously, they only dated a short time, "We want to get married soon. We’re old and we could die." grandma told me. A full house with both their families and neigbhors in attendance. They looked at each other the way Ruth and Jerry are looking at each other in these photos. It’s been 8 years and they still look at each other that way and do everything together and are having a great time and almost never get sick. I can only wish the same for Ruth and Jerry. And encourage any other couples like them to go for it.
sweetest wedding i’ve ever seen i cried looking throughout the whole videothis made my day ! thankyou SW for posting this ! Congratulations and blessings to the happy couple !! :D
Hi Julia!Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts! As the writer behind this story, I can tell you that I (and we) meant no disrespect by referring to Ruth and Jerry’s wedding (or Ruth or Jerry themselves) as "adorable." As someone who regularly refers to all manner of things, including babies, thirty year olds, trees, squirrels, and rocks as adorable, it didn’t even cross my mind that it might be disrespectful. Thanks for pointing that out, and I’m glad you liked the post!Emily @ SW
Emily, pay no mind to Julia. She’s the one being disrespectful. The elderly have no desire to be "revered and respected" as she suggests. They wish to be treated just like everyone else, which is what you’ve done here. And I’m sure the happy couple appreciates everyone’s positive feelings.
I am crying as I am watching this!!! Beautiful… There is true and real love in this world!!! Thank you for sharing this, I am happy :))
This is WONDERFUL!!! It just shows that even "mature" people can be as happy as young ones. It warmed my heart!!! I would treasure those photos and have them placed so they’re available to them to see and remember what a wonderful time it was. This is a reassuring sign that true love can be had at ANY age. If you want it bad enough, and look hard enough, it WILL happen. Determination can be a fantastic element to finding "true love" at any age. Congratulations to the wonderful couple. Regards, Judy
Love this!
Congrats to the beautiful couple! Great photos, too.
Maybe it’s just because my wedding’s only a month away, but this made me cry for sure. I can’t wait to be old together…
I Love this..brought tears to my eyes!
I’m a blabbering mess.This is the most amazing post I have EVER seen.Ruth & Jerry… I wish you the most fabulous marriage ever.& might I add, Ruth… what a beautiful bride… and how dapper and handsome is Jerry?
Omgosh I am crying. This is one of the sweetest weddings I have EVER seen. Thanks you for sharing this. :)
sweetest. wedding. ever. they are lovely.
I am so glad you posted this! These two are so cute–that's how alot of people did it back in the day-just keep it low key and small. It's all about the love and not the party.
[…] when you’re 80? Just ask these young lovers that we’ve all fallen in love with. Ruth and Jerry stole our hearts last year (and yours!). Met at 83; married at 83. Save Facebook it Tweet […]