Youngest Couple Married : Engaged Young Couple

Youngest Couple of the World

Every little girl dreams about her wedding day, complete with visions of a big beautiful white dress and, of course, the perfect man. But 9-year-old Jayla Cooper didn't have a lifetime to wait for Mr. Right.

 

The Southlake, TX, girl had been battling leukemia for two years, a battle that would end in just a matter of weeks. But what Jayla did have was a groom. He's her best friend, Jose Griggs, 7, a fellow patient at Children's Medical Center in Dallas.

Jayla and Jose tied the knot in February 2009 to fulfill her final wish: Getting married in a beautiful wedding, surrounded by family and friends. From the flowers to the banquet hall, donations poured in to give a North Texas bride the wedding of her dreams.

Jaila died on Wednesday, April 1, 2009.

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Worlds Couple Engaged in Syria She's 3, He's 5

Hala and her fiance Khalid

Khalid's father Juma -- who lives in the city of Homs, some 100 miles north of Damascus -- told the paper that his son asked for his fellow kindergartner's hand in marriage "of his own free will," after a brief holiday romance. Both families are now reportedly preparing for the ceremony, which will take place in a decade, when Khalid is 15 and Hala 13. Such a ceremony would still be against Syrian law, which states the minimum age for marriage is 17 for women and 18 for men.

While child marriages aren't unknown in Syria's more remote rural regions -- ceremonies involving girls as young as 13 and boys age 15 have been known to take place in defiance of the law -- they're almost unheard of in its cities, where the average age of marriage for women is 25, according to rights organization Freedom House.

However, Juma has pledged that if the youngsters decide not to marry in a decade's time, he'll honor their request. "We know that Khalid or Hala might change their mind in the future," he said. "But what we do know at this stage is that they are very happy and talk to each other every day."