Couple swim into love with wedding in YMCA pool where they first met

MARYVILLE, Ill. (KMOV/Gray News) - An Illinois couple who met in a water aerobics class at the YMCA decided to get married in the same pool where their romance began.

Edward LaRue, 82, and Marlene Parsons, 78, exchanged vows last Wednesday in the water at the Maryville YMCA, surrounded by friends, family and a lifeguard.

“I liked him,” said Parsons about their first meeting.

However, both she and LaRue had lost their longtime spouses six years earlier and were hesitant about remarrying.

“We really didn’t want to get married because we had both lost someone,” Parsons said.

After some playful splashing in the pool, the couple went on their first date on Dec. 5, 2023, and LaRue proposed in August of the next year. Parsons waited until this year to give him an answer.

While the couple were deciding where and when to tie the knot, Allie Morgan, the Maryville YMCA’s senior aquatics director, suggested the pool as a unique wedding venue.

“I said, ‘Hey, you guys met in the pool. You should get married in the pool. And I can marry you because I have my minister license.’ I didn’t think they would take me seriously,” Morgan said.

But LaRue and Parsons took her up on the offer, walking down the aisle and into the pool for a wedding in the water. The ceremony included traditional wedding elements adapted for the location, such as a bouquet toss and a first dance in the pool.

“That was great,” LaRue said.

“It was great, yeah,” Parsons said.

The ceremony even ended with a splash, the same way the couple’s relationship began.