What is the perfect age to get married?

Do you think there's a perfect age to get married? I'm guessing if you thought about it really carefully the answer would be no. We're all aware of couples who are successfully married and I doubt any of them will put the longevity and happiness of their marriages down to the age which they tied the knot. However, there is an ideal age to get married and stay married, according to experts.

A study carried out by a sociologist at the University of Utah and published by the Institute of Family Studies has revealed that couples who marry between the ages of 28 and 32 are less likely to divorce. The analysis of the data showed that those who married within this age bracket had the lowest probability of divorce, at least for the first five years after getting married. Of course, there's no need to suddenly lose all hope if you've got married outside this window or are still single and aged 33. And please don't freak out if you're 31 and there are no signs of romantic love on the horizon.

We can all be guilty of becoming deadline focused, driven my completing different life-goals by specific ages - dream job at 25, married at 28, house at 29, first child at 30 and the lists go on.

But we realise that life is a lot more complicated than this and when we try to orchestrate our lives in this way it puts unnecessary pressure on us as individuals. What is interesting about the data is that it suggests that our likelihood of divorce decreases at a time when we are probably at our most matured and at our most financially stable to date.

The concept of a perfect age to get married can be equally as damaging to our understanding of marriage. There are so many variables to consider when it comes to why a marriage works and what elements are needed to make it a success.

While it's perfectly normal to want to get married as soon as we feel we're ready and to pursue the steps towards this, it's important to remember that age-orientated to do lists are just as incompatible with marriage as they are with everyday life. When it comes down to it, there's no guarantee that getting married at any age will result in a long and happy marriage.