Ben Franklin, Betsy Ross Actors Wed In Philly

PHILADELPHIA -- Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross are celebrating this Independence Day as newlyweds.

Ralph Archbold and Linda Wilde, who portray the historical figures, tied the knot Thursday night in a public ceremony in front of Philadelphia's Independence Hall.

The bride and groom were in costume and so was the entire wedding party.

Archbold met Wilde when she was hired for a wedding toast, and he hired her as a backup Betsy Ross, reported TV station NBC10.

"I thought, 'This man is really going to extremes to get me to be Betsy Ross for a date,' " Wilde said.

"I thought, 'Wow -- this woman is intelligent, this woman is beautiful, and the people absolutely loved her,' " Archbold said. "It made me perk up and say, 'This is a great woman!' "

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter performed the brief ceremony and told the couple that "the entire city could not be happier" for them.

After the nuptials, the couple took a horse-drawn coach to a private reception at the historic City Tavern, where the real Franklin dined along with other founding fathers such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.

Archbold is 66 and his bride is 50, but a real marriage between Franklin and Ross would have been a May-December affair. Franklin was 45 years older than the flag maker.