U.S. Army holds first wedding without bride and groom

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters Life!) - When Sergeant Ryan Thompson married U.S. Army Specialist Barbara Hines on Wednesday there was a wedding cake and a chaplain but two things were missing -- the bride and the groom.

Both Thompson, 25, and Hines, 29, were on duty overseas when they were married on Wednesday in Montana, the only state that allows double-proxy weddings where neither bride nor groom is required to be present.

Thompson, stationed in Iraq, and Hines, in Afghanistan, were married previously and had a son but divorced in 2003. However they stayed in close contact over the years while stationed in separate military bases in the United States and overseas.

"They were very young when they first married and now they feel they have matured a lot and want to give it another shot," said Montana National Guard spokeswoman Stacey Tyson.

"They have talked for years about trying to reconcile their relationship and recently decided to go for it. They researched the idea of getting married by proxy, which led them to Montana."

Just three states allow a form of marriage by proxy but those states require either the bride or groom to be present at the ceremony.

Montana is the only state that allows double-proxy weddings if one of the couple is a Montana resident or a member of the U.S. Armed Forces.

Tyson said this was the first time that the Montana National Guard had performed a double-proxy wedding, even though the state law allowing this dates back to the 19th century.

She said the law originated for lonely miners who got hitched to mail-order brides who remained back East.

"That's when it got started and it's been going ever since," said Tyson.

The Montana Army National Guard did ask another married couple to stand in and exchange vows on behalf of Thompson, of Texas, and Hines, from Pennsylvania.

"We thought the couple standing in should be married because -- how weird would that be -- doing that sort of thing with a stranger you're not married to," said Tyson.

Montana National Guard chaplain Kenneth Duvall said the ceremony, which featured a wedding cake but no exchange of rings, may be unusual but it is nevertheless legal and binding.

He had counseled the couple by telephone and e-mail, providing pointers for a successful union.

The couple hopes to be united in person in about one year.

(Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)