• 'You bet your sweet life': Guadalcanal veteran marries after 30-year courtship

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    Former Marine Jack Wright, 88, marries his girlfriend of 30 years, Shirlene King, 57, in the oncology radiation department of the Veterans Administration hospital in Los Angeles on May 7, 2013. Wright decided to marry King in the hospital after undergoing cancer treatment there.

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    Jack Wright chats to his friend Bob Feldman before the ceremony.

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    Wright puts a ring on the finger of his girlfriend of 30 years.

    Shirlene King thought the moment would never come, but after a 30-year courtship, she finally got her wedding day, NBC Los Angeles reports.

    She married her sweetheart of three decades, 88-year-old Jack Wright, on Tuesday. 

    The former Marine is one of 11 remaining U.S. survivors of the Battle for Guadalcanal in World War II, Reuters reports. 

    The couple were wed in the hallway of the oncology department at the West Los Angeles veterans hospital, where a gravely ill Wright is receiving chemotherapy. Doctors, nurses and friends looked on during the hospital's first-ever wedding.

    Despite his serious condition, Wright's humor and devotion were evident.

    In response to one of the vows -- instead of answering with the traditional "I do" or "I will" -- Wright answered, "You bet your sweet life." Read more at NBC Los Angeles.

     

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    Shirlene King greets the wedding guests.

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    Wright kisses his bride's hand.

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    Photos of the bride and groom lie on the cake table.

    Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

    The couple are seen during their wedding reception.

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  • Valentine's Day is a popular time to say 'I do'

    Bebeto Matthews / AP

    NEW YORK: Newlyweds Danielle Brabham, 39, and Michael Lynch, 41, from Miami Shores, Fla., pose for pictures at the Empire State Building viewing platform after their Valentine's Day wedding. Brabham and Lynch were among three couples chosen for the 19th Annual Weddings Event, "Love is in the Air," designed by celebrity designer Preston Bailey, after submitting their personal love stories to the Empire State Building's Facebook page.

    Getting married on Valentine's day would certainly make it easy to remember your wedding anniversary. Here's a round-up of pictures from the many group weddings that took place today:

    Tomas Bravo / Reuters

    MEXICO CITY: A couple takes part in a mock wedding during Valentine's Day celebrations in the Coyoacan neighborhood in Mexico City.

    Ernesto Benavides / AFP - Getty Images

    LIMA, PERU: Couples get married inside a public pool during a mass wedding on Valentine's Day. Over 200 couples participated.

    Enrique Castro-Mendivil / Reuters

    LIMA, PERU: A newlywed couple laughs in a public swimming pool during a mass wedding on Valentine's Day.

    Mario Tama / Getty Images

    NEW YORK: Newly-married couple Brian Bondy and Melissa Cohn stand on a mock heated beach in Times Square after being photographed on Valentine's Day. Bondy proposed to Cohn on 'Good Morning America' this morning and the couple then had a 'flash wedding' in Times Square. The mock heated beach was set up by the Aruba Tourism Authority.

    Jay Directo / AFP - Getty Images

    MANILA: Couples stand in a queue at a gymnasium for a mass wedding in Manila, Philippines, on Feb. 14. Some 400 couples exchanged vows inside a packed gymnasium on the outskirts of Manila's Makati financial district, as a school band played love songs that drowned out the heavy traffic outside.

    Cheryl Ravelo / Reuters

    MANILA: A girl is flanked by grooms as she accompanied her father (rear) to register before a Valentine's Day mass wedding in Quezon City, Manila, Philippines. More than 3,000 couples were simultaneously married nationwide.

    Joe Raedle / Getty Images

    WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.: Arlene Joseph and Stuart Joseph smile after being wed during a group Valentine's day wedding at the National Croquet Center. Approximately 40 couples tied the knot.

    Slideshow: Valentine’s Day around the world

    Lintao Zhang / Getty Images

    From San Francisco to Sri Lanka, China to Cuba, love and romance know no boundaries. See the many ways Cupid's favorite holiday is celebrated across the globe.

    Launch slideshow

  • Love is in the air (literally) as couples wed before Valentine's

    Reuters

    Prasit Rangsiyawong, 29, kisses his bride Varuttaon Rangsiyawong, 27, during a wedding ceremony ahead of Valentine's Day in Prachin Buri province, east of Bangkok on Feb. 13. Three Thai couples took part in the wedding ceremony arranged by a Thai resort, aimed at strengthening the relationships of the couples by doing fun activities.

    Reuters

    Prasit Rangsiyawong, 29, and his bride Varuttaon Rangsiyawong, 27, jump in a pond during a wedding ceremony ahead of Valentine's Day in Prachin Buri province, east of Bangkok on Feb. 13.

    By Jonathan Sanger, NBC News

    Most couples are happy when their wedding goes according to plan. Some Thai couples, though, look for a day full of the unexpected. A day before Valentine’s Day, three Thai couples took part in an adventurous wedding ceremony that involved being chased by pirates, dangling from cables, and falling into water.

    Reuters

    Chutima Imsuntear, 37, falls as she runs with Sopon Sapaotong, 41, during a wedding ceremony ahead of Valentine's Day in Prachin Buri province, east of Bangkok on Feb. 13.

    Reuters

    Sorawich Changtor, left, 28, and Rungnapa Panla, 30, run to escape a man dressed as a pirate as other couples look on during a wedding ceremony ahead of Valentine's Day in Prachin Buri province, east of Bangkok on Feb. 13.

    Previously on PhotoBlog:

  • Winter-only weddings - Bulgarian Muslims say 'I do'

    Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP - Getty Images

    Fatme Ulanova stands during her wedding ceremony in the village of Ribnovo, in southwestern Bulgaria, on Jan. 2.

    Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP - Getty Images

    Fatme Ulanova, 20, and Djamal Sirakov, 23, stand with with euro banknotes hung on their garments as presents during their two-day wedding ceremony in the Bulgarian village of Ribnovo.

    Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP - Getty Images

    Bulgarian Muslim women look at the dowry during a wedding ceremony in the village of Ribnovo in Bulgaria.

    Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP - Getty Images

    Bulgarian Muslim women look at the dowry during a wedding ceremony in the village of Ribnovo, in southwestern Bulgaria, on Jan. 2.

    Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP - Getty Images

    Bulgarian Muslim women dance during a two-day wedding ceremony in the village of Ribnovo on Jan. 2.

    The people of this Bulgarian town of Ribnovo are famous for performing their unique wedding ceremonies in winter time only.

    The inhabitants of the mountain village of Ribnovo are Bulgarian-speaking Muslims, sometimes referred to as "Pomaks" or "people who have suffered". Muslim Bulgarians are descendants of Christian Bulgarians who were forcibly converted to Islam by the Turks, during the 14th, 16th and the 18th century.

     

  • Rooney Chen / Reuters

    'I want to wash diapers': Groom's parents get in wedding spirit

    The parents, at right, of a newly married man wear costumes and make-up in accordance with a local custom as they sit next to the parents of the bride at a wedding in Xianyang city in China's Shaanxi province on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013.

    The "Nao Gong Po" custom teases the groom's parents by having them wear ugly costumes and make-up in the belief it helps them improve their affinity with others, according to Reuters. The Chinese characters on the placards read "I want to have a grandson" (left) and "I want to wash diapers" (right). The bride is seen in the background.

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  • Thirty-five Kyrgyz couples say "I do" in mass wedding

    Vyacheslav Oseledko / AFP - Getty Images

    Kyrgyz couples take part in a mass wedding ceremony in the capital Bishkek on Nov. 13. Thirty-five couples took part in the mass wedding sponsored by a state company in Kyrgyzstan.

    Vyacheslav Oseledko / AFP - Getty Images

    Kyrgyz couples take part in a mass wedding ceremony in the capital Bishkek on Nov. 13.

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  • Scenes from a Pakistani Christian wedding

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    Pakistani groom, Phaloos Sohtra, 22, unveils his bride Shabana Gill, 20, during their wedding in a church in a Christian neighborhood in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Oct. 5.

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    Pakistani bride Shabana Gill, 20, is flanked by relatives and friends while walking to a church for her wedding procession, in a Christian neighborhood in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Oct. 5.

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    A Pakistani girl, bottom left, throws flowers on groom Phaloos Sohtra, 22, and his bride Shabana Gill, 20, as they exchange rings during their wedding in a church in a Christian neighborhood in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Oct. 5.

    Muhammed Muheisen / AP

    Pakistani neighbors of bride Shabana Gill, 20, not pictured, wait her arrival outside a church during her wedding in a Christian neighborhood in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Oct. 5.

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  • New brides in Poland take the plunge for charity

    Marek Zakrzewski / EPA

    Four new brides slide down a water slide in Poland for charity on Aug. 26.

    Marek Zakrzewski / EPA

    Dozens of brides emerge from a swimming pool after a charity photo shoot in Poland on Aug. 26. Most of the participating brides were married in the past few months.

    Polish Newlyweds participated in a photo shoot in Poznan, Poland on Sunday in a special event, ‘Brides Conquer City for a Sick Child.’ Proceeds from the fundraiser will help purchase a special wheelchair for an eight-year-old armless child.

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  • Mass wedding in Amman unites Jordanian and Syrian couples

    Ali Jarekji / Reuters

    Brides speak to their grooms during a mass wedding ceremony in Amman Jordan on July 6.

    Ali Jarekji / Reuters

    Brides wait for their grooms before a mass wedding ceremony in Amman on July 6.

    Raad Adayleh / AP

    A Jordanian groom covers his face from foam spray during a mass wedding of 46 brides and 46 grooms in Amman, Jordan.

    A mass wedding for 46 Jordanian and Syrian couples was organized by the Islamic association, Al-Afaf, to encourage young adults to remain virtuous until marriage. The brides and grooms were reportedly unable to afford ceremonies.

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  • AFP - Getty Images

    The wedding of two frogs, arranged by farmers seeking rainfall, is performed in Nagpur on June 29, in order to please the Rain Gods and in the hope that their region would soon receive monsoon showers. People blew trumpets and sang songs, as the priest solemnized the marriage with the usual Hindu marriage rituals to the chanting of Hindu hymns and by putting streaks of vermilion on the female frog's head. The frogs were picked up from different ponds, following the local belief among the farmers in this part of India that a frog marriage pleases the Rain Gods and ensures a good harvest with rain.

    Frogs receive traditional Hindu wedding ceremony

    By Natalia Jimenez, NBC News

    Let's hope that these nuptials do not end up like Austria's now divorced tortoises, who were together for over a century.

  • Bridegroom shot dead at wedding in Thailand

    GRAPHIC WARNING: This post contains a graphic image that some viewers may find disturbing. 

    A Thai bridegroom was shot dead at his wedding in front of his bride and 100 stunned guests, The Bangkok Post reports:

    Yutthana Juyure, 27, the bridegroom and his bride Nurasatilah Masae were walking around talking to guests and posing for photographs.

    The bridegroom, at one point, walked away from his bride to meet some guests eating under a tent nearby. While walking back, he was followed closely by a man who shot him six times in the body with a 9mm gun at close range, killing him on the spot.

     

    EPA

    Nurasatilah Masae standing in front of her bridegroom who was shot dead during their wedding in the Muslim majority province of Pattani, southern Thailand, on June 10, 2012. The groom was shot dead in the presence of his bride and more than 100 guests, and the gunman then fled, police said.

  • Couple celebrates wedding with sweeping view of Vienna concert

    Samuel Kubani / AFP - Getty Images

    A Polish couple celebrate their wedding during an open air 'Summer Night' Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra concert backdropped by Schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna on Thursday.

    Samuel Kubani / AFP - Getty Images

    A Polish couple celebrate their wedding during an open air 'Summer Night' Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra concert backdropped by Schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna on Thursday.

    Samuel Kubani / AFP - Getty Images

    Around 100,000 people watch the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra perform during an open air 'Summer Night' concert backdropped by Schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna on Thursday.

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