YOUNG Canberra men are in a rush to get hitched, with national data showing the ACT had the lowest median age for first-time grooms in the country.
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The average age of a groom who ties the knot in the nation's capital is 29.4, while the oldest are in the Northern Territory, where the median age is 30.7.
Luke Webb, 22, who was having a suit fitted yesterday at Kevin O'Connor Menswear in Queanbeyan, is getting married at the Carillion in July.
Marriage trends data, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, showed that at their first wedding both brides and grooms tended to be younger in ACT, Queensland and South Australia than the rest of the country.
The median age for brides who married in the ACT was 27.8, making them the second youngest in the country.
Mr Webb and fiance Amy Dibley will be married by Canberra wedding celebrant Helen Nourse.
Mr Webb said: ''If you're in love then 22 is not too young to get married.
''I had my daughter Latoya when I was 20 and that does force you to grow up a bit and I'm really looking forward to getting married.
''Amy and I have been together for three years, we met at work and there was an instant connection.''
Canberra celebrant Judy Aulich said she married a lot of Canberra couples aged in their 20s. ''In my generation we married our first boyfriends and that would be about the age of 21 or 22.
''These days a lot of them are nearly 30 years old and have been in the relationship for several years and have set up home together.
''I do think there are advantages to waiting until 29 because you change and develop so much during your 20s,'' she said.
''I think the better you know somebody the greater the chances your marriage will be successful,'' she said.
Mrs Aulich said she had married her first boyfriend and they were still happy together 43 years later.