"My whole focus was my business and developing my brand," said Kim Baker.
Baker is a celebrity makeup artist who was fine with staying single. Same thing with Christine Dennison who navigated her own shark-invested waters of the dating pool. As the owner of Mad Dog Expeditions, an exotic travel company, she, too, was focused on building her business.
"I thought if it happened that would be great," said Dennison.
Life coach Caryl Lucas has been researching the 40-plus bride whom she calls LBBs - that's short for late-blooming brides.
"The wait has not been the old wait for Mr. Right. The wait has been about finding yourself," said Lucas. "I never like to use the word older anymore. I like to use the word wiser."
And because they're usually established, they tend not to marry for money.
"She's the bride for the first time who is looking for travel. She's marrying you because she enjoys your company," said Lucas.
Dennison, 42, said she married at the right time and to the right man.
"If you can establish your own life before, then I think you will be a much happier bride or a much happier partner," said Dennison. "Life is not like you think it will be. So you miss out on a lot if you go by a checklist that you make up in your teens our your 20s."
Baker agrees. She was already a single mother and dating turned up nothing serious until one day at the gym.
"I saw this amazingly beautiful Senegalese man and I was just like, 'Wow,'" Baker said.
After the sparks flew, they found wedded bliss.
"He is a professional soccer player. I'm very focused on my makeup and beauty business," said Baker.
While getting married for the first time at 40 isn't common, it may be a sign of things to come.
A U.S. Census survey shows the median age for women to marry for the first time is 25, but that's an increase by more than four years since 1970.
