A couple got married with $4 wedding rings after dating for only two weeks. Clara and Trey Bell tied the knot on a picturesque Florida beach with a service that was only $200 (£150), having decided three hours earlier to get hitched.
Clara, from Louisville, Kentucky, announced their impromptu marriage on TikTok and a video of them embracing on the beach after becoming husband and wife has amassed more than five million views.
But while millions may have watched on their phones, there were no friends or family in attendance – because you can’t get from Kentucky to Florida at three hours notice, even if you wanted to.
Clara, 18, said:
“We were dating for two weeks before the wedding. We spent every day together during that time and got married on the same day that Trey proposed the idea – we eloped.
“Our families didn’t attend because it was so last minute – it was literally just the two of us. There was a minister who we had come to the beach with a photographer, but that was it.
“When Trey first proposed the idea of getting married, I was pretty on board. I was like, ‘That’s crazy’, but we did it.”
And while even Clara and Trey thought the plan was crazy, for the families, there was even more to process. Clara continued:
“Our families were certainly surprised.
“I hadn’t told my parents about Trey. So not only did I have to say I was married, I had to introduce them to my husband because they didn’t know him.
“It was surprising in a shocking way, like ‘What?! You did what?!’
“But they’re happy now. Trey met my parents; I’ve met his parents. They’re super happy for us now, but at the time, they were just shocked and confused. I wouldn’t say they were shocked in a bad way though.”
If you’re thinking two weeks isn’t really long enough to get to know someone, the couple did actually date briefly back in 2017 – when Clara was 15 and Trey was 17 – but that came to an end after they went to separate schools.
But now, the couple have moved in together and are finding their feet as newlyweds.
Clara said:
“I’d say we’re still in the honeymoon stage. Marriage is definitely difficult, but not extremely difficult.
“We didn’t have premarital counselling or anything, so we’ve had to work things out when it comes to us having different opinions about stuff or how things should be done.
“We have different expectations of how things like cleaning should be done. It was also kind of difficult in the beginning in terms of getting our families on track.”