Tuesday 24 January 2012

Getting Married 'Young'


When Hubby proposed on my 20th birthday, a grand total of 403 days after we began dating, it wasn't exactly a surprise... He'd let slip his intentions during an argument the week before, and we'd since window-shopped for my ring, but even before that, it felt like marriage had been on the cards from almost day one. I can't really remember a time when we hadn't talked about it, in a 'someday' kind of way, but a month or two before my birthday, it had progressed to 'well, actually, how about someday soon?'.

I know it's the biggest cliche, and it won't help you to decide if this guy/girl is the right one for you, and what time is the right time to get married (is there even one?), but for me, I. Just. Knew.

I knew I'd never love anyone else as much in my entire life.
I knew no one would ever love me as much.
I knew my life would never 'fit' as perfectly with another person.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not some sappy romantic (well, maybe just a little bit), I'm a realist. I also knew that lots of marriages end in divorce, and it's impossible to say that I will be married to this man forever, or that we will always be the person that the other fell in love with. Or that I'll never love anyone else in my lifetime. People change, situations change, I know that. But frankly? I don't care! I wanted to be married to this man, more than I ever thought possible. I wanted the WHOLE FREAKING WORLD to know that we were in love and had made that commitment to each other. And I could not bear to wait a moment longer than I absolutely had to, to do that. The fact that we waited 18 months from the proposal to the wedding nearly killed me. It didn't matter that I was barely 21 years old, had only just graduated university and was still more mini-skirt than minivan, I was so ready to get married. To be his Mrs B.

I never for a second regretted accepting his proposal, never once thought "but I've not partied enough yet!", or even felt cold feet or anything approaching it. On the morning of our wedding, I was the calmest bride-to-be you've ever seen (well, in that sense, in the organisational sense, not so much!), and I know he was the same. Everyone kept asking 'Are you nervous?', and all I could think was 'No. Why would I be? I'M GETTING MARRIED, IT'S AWESOME'.

It honestly felt like the most natural thing in the world to do. It wasn't a leap of faith. It wasn't a risk. It wasn't some crazy romantic notion. And it most certainly was not a rushed decision. It was just what was right - for us, I'm not saying it's right for everyone, obviously.

I am so psyched at the thought of starting a family with this man, doing everything with him by my side, growing wrinkly old and a little bit senile together, and the only thing that scares me about that is that he might die before me - ideally we'd both pass away simultaneously in our sleep when we're like 100 years old, still holding hands of course, and I refuse to entertain any other options, ok?

He's The One. That's all there is to it.

5 comments:

  1. it's interesting - I always struggle with that notion of 'being married young', probably because of my family history, but that's another topic. (and frankly, when I learned you were getting married my first reaction was something along the lines of :http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/060/643/MTXOMVRJIAFLJEK6X6DIUO42NIADU37B.jpeg). But witnessing you being so in love with each other and being so down-to-earth makes me realise that every story is different and that you won't necessarily waste your life. amen to that. (that's a hell of a comment, I clearly need to get back to Uni asap)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lovely words Rosie, I think you know by now that my situation was pretty much exactly the same. Hurray for early marriages as far as I'm concerned, we get more time with the one who has promised to love and care for us forever!

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is a really refreshing post. Even though I'm 24 and feel older, I felt like I faced a lot of opposition when I decided to move up to Leeds to move in with my boyfriend. All my friends seemed to think I was mad to even consider it, that I was in my glory days and I was giving it all up for domestic bliss which is boring and a one way ticket to old age, but it felt like the most natural thing in the world to me. We talk about marriage a lot, still in that "someday" sense, but that's more a financial decision than anything. Despite the fact that a lot of people seem to think I'm too young and too "inexperienced" (whatever that means) to settle down with someone, it is literally all I want to do, because - like you - I just know, there is no question. I applaud you for writing this, I think it's really great. It was lovely meeting you last night, and if you're ever in Leeds and feeling lonely, gimme a shout! x

    ReplyDelete

I love receiving comments - I read them all! Leave a link to your blog (if you have one) because I love checking them out too xx

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...