Eight sisters pledge to same wedding date

TROY, Mo., June 7 (UPI) -- Eight sisters in a Missouri family are one-fourth of the way to their goal of marrying on the same date, albeit in different years, their mother says.

Janie Staley said her eight daughters made a pledge with one another to all marry on May 24 and this year it was 20-year-old Virginia's turn to honor that familial commitment, the St. Louis (Mo.) Post-Dispatch reported Sunday.

Virginia is only the second sister to honor the pledge to date, following the May 24, 2004, wedding of her now 23-year-old sister Joelle.

"For our wedding day, I wanted individuality, to be different and to be expressive," Virginia, the third-oldest of the Staleys' 12 total children, said of her marital celebration, which included groomsmen in tunics and guests with bell ringers.

For Matthew Staley, the sisters' father, watching two of his daughters get married and knowing six more may do the same has been difficult.

"The girls are just tough to give away," he told the Post-Dispatch.

The ages of Staley's other daughters were not reported.