There was no waiting for the 'you may now kiss the bride' announcement at the wedding of Sylvia Martin, 93, and Frank Raymond, 88, in Monash on Tuesday - the bride and groom literally couldn't keep their hands off each other.
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The elderly couple - dubbed Canberra's answer to The Notebook - exchanged vows before 60 friends and family at Goodwin Village on Tuesday, with Sylvia landing Frank a giant smooch before the ceremony had even begun.
This was after a Beyonce-style entrance, where Sylvia waved to an adoring crowd of Goodwin Village residents lining the balconies and a stone bridge as Frank waited patiently for his bride in the gazebo.
"No kissing yet," Sylvia's grandson Glenn Huckstepp called from the crowd, just minutes after wolf whistling as she sauntered down the very long concrete aisle.
The fun and casual atmosphere was the perfect fit for a wedding that has been more than a decade in the making. Frank has been asking Sylvia to marry him "every other day" for the past 15 years.
The couple met when Sylvia was 73 and Frank was 68, and despite some challenges over the years - including 12 months apart when a head injury caused Sylvia to forget Frank - both are delighted to now officially be husband and wife.
"It's a relief, it's wonderful, I can start to relax," Frank laughed.
“Being married is the most wonderful thing in the world - what else could there be? I can't think of anything better and that's the truth."
- Frank Raymond
Residents of Goodwin VIllage spent the past two weeks helping Frank and Sylvia prepare for the wedding, including crocheting hundreds of tiny love hearts in maroon and white - Sylvia's favourite colours - to hang at the reception.
A pianist and two violinists played Moon River as the couple walked in to the reception to an eruption of cheers.
"It's been the most wonderful day," Sylvia said. "The music makes me want to dance!"
The newlyweds plan to go on a cruise later this year for their honeymoon, and dream of moving to Moruya to be near Sylvia's grandson or, at a stretch, back to Dodges Ferry in Tasmania, where they lived together for many years.
So did Frank, who lost two previous wives to illness, expect to be getting married again at the age of 88?
"Well I was always hoping for it because I love love and I just love life," he said.
Sylvia chimed in with some advice for those Canberra women finding themselves newly-divorced or alone later in life.
"If you're in your sixties and think you can't get married again, well, that's a joke - of course you can," she said.
"Go for it! Have a life and live your life!"
