Welcome to a whirlwind tour of love that defies logic—here are 10 people who married inanimate objects, proving that true devotion can be found in the most unexpected places.
10 People Who Married Objects
10 Linda Ducharme
In 2015 the Floridian made a splash on TLC’s reality series My Strange Addiction. While the show’s title suggests a compulsive habit, Ducharme insists she isn’t hooked on carnival rides—she’s simply fallen head‑over‑heels for one. Her beloved is Bruce, a towering Ferris wheel.
Ducharme first laid eyes on Bruce at a traveling carnival back in 1982. After a three‑decade courtship she pledged to love, honor, and obey the 21‑meter‑tall (70‑foot) steel giant in 2012. When a 1986 storm battered the wheel, forcing its retirement, Ducharme rescued the wreckage and has since poured nearly $100,000 into restoring her mechanical soulmate.
According to Ducharme, sharing a life with a Ferris wheel is no different from any other marriage. She talks about spending quality time together and even enjoys candlelit dinners beside the rotating spokes.
Bruce isn’t her first unconventional sweetheart; before settling down with the wheel, Ducharme dated a plane and a train, proving her affection for non‑human companions runs deep.
9 Zheng Jiajia
Zheng Jiajia, a 31‑year‑old artificial‑intelligence engineer, felt pressure from his family to find a wife. In a country where a gender imbalance left many men without eligible partners, he turned to technology for a solution.
In 2016 Zheng built a robot named Yingying and, after a brief two‑month romance, walked her down the aisle. The ceremony was modest yet traditional, complete with a red scarf draped over Yingying’s head and friends and relatives bearing witness.
Yingying’s current capabilities are modest—she can recognize simple images and utter a handful of words—but Zheng has grand plans: he hopes to program her to walk unaided and eventually handle chores like laundry and dishwashing.
8 Babylonia Aivaz
In January 2012 a Seattle resident wed a 107‑year‑old warehouse just weeks before the building’s slated demolition. The ceremony, attended by about 50 onlookers, was framed as a gay marriage because the structure was deemed female.
The event sparked protest, with some demonstrators fearing it might undermine the burgeoning marriage‑equality movement. Critics argued that legalizing a union between two women could set a precedent for human‑to‑object marriages, such as a building.
Aivaz, however, chose to sidestep the gender debate and instead highlighted the pressing issue of gentrification. The aging warehouse was slated to be torn down for new apartments, and her ceremony aimed to draw attention to that loss.
After the vows, Aivaz continued advocating for neighborhoods facing gentrification, though she never married another building during subsequent protests.
7 Hsum
Chang His‑hsum endured a heartbreaking tragedy when his first wife, Tsai, took her own life after their families opposed their marriage. Seeking closure, Chang turned to a symbolic union: in 1999 he married a Barbie doll to honor Tsai’s spirit.
The ceremony unfolded at a local Buddhist temple. Barbie was dressed in a traditional wedding gown and wore a gold necklace that had once belonged to Tsai, allowing the family to finally bless the marriage.
Tsai’s dowry had included a red Mercedes; during the ritual a paper replica of the car was burned, granting Tsai a vehicle for the afterlife.
Following the ceremony, Chang returned home with his human wife, his new Barbie bride, and an urn containing Tsai’s ashes. In Chinese culture, object‑based spiritual marriages are not unheard of, but choosing a Barbie doll as a stand‑in for a deceased spouse is certainly unique.
6 Tracey Emin
London‑based artist Tracey Emin, renowned for her provocative work, added another headline‑grabbing chapter to her life in 2015 by marrying a stone.
The stone now resides in the garden of her French home, and while the ceremony was private, Emin has spoken openly about the motivations behind the commitment.
Reading the intimate letters exchanged between Pope John Paul II and philosopher Anna‑Teresa Tymieniecka sparked a contemplation of spiritual versus physical bonds. Emin describes her stone as a “beautiful ancient stone” that serves as an anchor—“it’s not going anywhere.”
She admits that on bad days the stone lifts her spirits. Emin also insists on calling her spouse a stone rather than a rock, drawing a distinction: a rock is cut by humans, whereas a stone is shaped by the Earth itself.
5 Richard Torres
Environmental activist Richard Torres has taken his love for nature to the next level by walking down the aisle with trees.
Often described as a “Johnny Depp doppelganger,” Torres isn’t romantically enamored with his leafy partners; his marriages are acts of advocacy, intended to spotlight ecological concerns.
In 2013 he wed a tree in Peru, marking the start of his tree‑marriage campaign. A few months later he performed a similar ceremony for an Argentinian tree in a Buenos Aires park, complete with vows, a ring, and a kiss.
The following year he married another tree in Bogotá, Colombia, where he appealed to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia to cease hostilities and start planting trees.
2016 saw Torres unite with a Cypress tree in Mexico—El Tule, one of the world’s oldest and widest trees. He continues to marry trees, most recently in Guatemala City, using each ceremony to raise awareness for his environmental cause.
4 Jodi Rose
Le Pont du Diable, the Devil’s Bridge in southern France, has stood since the 14th century. In 2013, Jodi Rose exchanged vows with this stone arch, a ceremony blessed by the local mayor and witnessed by fourteen guests.
Rose first encountered the bridge while traveling for her “Singing Bridges” project, which records bridge‑cable vibrations to create music. She fell for the structure’s steadfastness.
She praises the bridge for its fixed, stable, and earth‑rooted nature—qualities she values in a partner. Rose appreciates that the bridge offers a safe haven yet never hinders her when she’s ready to move on.
3 Sal 9000
Love Plus, a Japanese dating‑simulation game, tasks players with courting one of three virtual women by gifting and dating them. The avatars respond to the player’s actions throughout the courtship.
A man known online as “Sal 9000” built a virtual romance with Nene Anegasaki, one of the game’s characters. After three months of digital dating, Sal decided to take the ultimate step and married Nene in 2009.
Sal explains that Nene is his dream woman—she never gets angry, and when she does, she quickly forgives. He feels no need for a human partner because his virtual wife fulfills his desires.
Experts who study internet and gaming addictions note that Sal communicates adequately in the real world, suggesting his marriage to a video‑game avatar isn’t indicative of a severe problem.
2 Lauren Adkins
Teenage heartthrobs often inspire daydreams of becoming Mrs. Celebrity Crush. Lauren Adkins, however, turned that fantasy into a lifelong commitment.
As a teenager, she devoured the Twilight novels and fell hard for Edward Cullen, the brooding vampire. When the books became movies, Robert Pattinson’s portrayal cemented her obsession.
Realizing the odds of marrying the actual actor were slim, Adkins purchased a life‑size cardboard cutout of Pattinson and married it in 2014 at the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel, with fifty guests in attendance.
The newlyweds then honeymooned in Los Angeles, celebrating a union that existed only in cardboard form but felt very real to Adkins.
1 Carol Santa Fe
Carol Santa Fe first encountered her soulmate at the tender age of nine—a train station in San Diego known as the Santa Fe Depot, affectionately called “Daidra.” After 36 years of devotion, she formalized the bond in 2015.
Each day she spends a 45‑minute commute just to be near Daidra, greeting the station, sharing the details of her day, and even engaging in mental intimacy.
Carol describes a private mental “sex” with the station, noting that certain quiet corners allow her to imagine Daidra’s touch and kiss. The roar of arriving trains, she admits, heightens her arousal.
She keeps her affection discreet to avoid public backlash—citing how another woman was barred from the Eiffel Tower after excessive displays of affection—so she can continue her cherished routine with Daidra.