Texas Couple Recreates Their Wedding Photos for 40th Wedding Anniversary

Dexter and Carolyn Johnson took the photos before jetting off to Las Vegas.

ByABC News
July 21, 2015, 3:24 PM
Carolyn and Dexter Johnson of Katy, Texas, recreated their wedding photos for their 40th wedding anniversary.
Carolyn and Dexter Johnson of Katy, Texas, recreated their wedding photos for their 40th wedding anniversary.
Courtesy Jay Johnson

— -- A Texas couple celebrated a monumental wedding anniversary by recreating their wedding photos down to the exact same hat on the bride.

Carolyn and Dexter Johnson were married July 12, 1975, in Cleveland, Ohio. The groom was 27 at the time, the bride, 20.

Forty years later, at the ages of 67 and 60, the couple stepped outside their home in Katy, Texas, and celebrated their wedding anniversary by taking the exact same photos.

The couple took one photo of themselves in front of a tree, staring lovingly into each other’s eyes, and another photo sitting together on Dexter Johnson’s motorcycle in the driveway, just as they did 40 years ago.

PHOTO: Carolyn and Dexter Johnson of Katy, Texas, recreated their wedding photos for their 40th wedding anniversary.
Carolyn and Dexter Johnson of Katy, Texas, recreated their wedding photos for their 40th wedding anniversary.

“My mom wanted to recreate a couple of the photos,” the couple’s son, Jay Johnson, told ABC News. “They were going to Las Vegas that weekend for their anniversary but she didn’t want to carry her hat on the plane so they just recreated it at their house before they left.”

The photos of Carolyn, a data processor, and Dexter, retired from a career in construction, were taken just as a memento for themselves and family until Johnson, their only son, posted the photos on Reddit, where they quickly went viral.

“They definitely got a kick out of it,” Johnson said. “They’re happy to be spreading their love and joy to other people around the world.”

It is that love, according to Johnson, that has not only stood the test of time, but has served as an inspiration to him in his own marriage.

“They have definitely been a strong unit of marriage,” he said. “They make it look easy, so I’m now married and I try to mimic what they’ve shown me throughout life -- and it seems to be working so far.”