Stealing her thunder?

Knottie57141769

Hey guys: i just need some perspective here! Please feel free to lend any advice you have!
My boyfriend and I have been going out for about 3 years now. His sister and her partner have been going out the same amount of time. She just got engaged in November. I am beyond excited for them! And i can not wait for their day to come! Since they have gotten engaged, my boyfriend and I have begun to have deeper conversations about engaged and have actually decided to get engaged within the next few months. I was really excited for him to tell me that- UNTIL i found out that my soon to be sister in law as well as my mother in law think that, that (getting engaged and/or married) would be stealing his sister's thunder.
But let me make one thing known- she has set her wedding for July 2016!!! That means i would have to wait over a year and a half to get engaged? Or if we decided to get engaged, to plan a wedding?!? I just dont think thats fair!
Just cause she wants to wait that long- does that mean I should? My only sister is leaving the country in the fall of 2016 and i want her to be there with me for the planning and the wedding.
Would i really be stealing her thunder if we got engaged or married (at least 6 months) before her? Please let me know your thoughts! I dont want to be irrational here. But i also dont want to be rude or put my life on hold just for her ...
Thank you!

jacques27

Nope. 

Thunder is a weather phenomenon, not an excuse to make the people you supposedly care about put their lives on hold in order for you to feel more special.

Go forth and live your life.

Blue_Bird

It would be beyond ridiculous to put your life on hold in order for someone to have a year of attention. Be rational. Get married, and ignore any immature and unreasonable comments from the peanut gallery.

dramamonkey

No. She gets one day...as do you.
You can also take as long as you need to plan your wedding...

A good friend got engaged in December 2012 and planned her wedding for June 2014.
I got engaged February 2013 and married November 2013. Everyone has their own planning time line.

MairePoppy

Your FSIL and FMIL are being ridiculous. FSIL gets one day (or weekend) for her wedding. She shouldn't expect you or anyone else to put their lives on hold for the duration of her wedding planning.

velvethelicopters

Stealing her thunder would be getting married on the same day. Maybe the same weekend. A full week is pushing it, but I'll accept that. If there's a lot of guests from outside the area, I could maybe agree if you plan for a wedding a month before hers, people may not be ok making a second trip. But that's really extreme and probably overly demanding, but I could live with it personally.

But, no. Just no. You do not need to put your life on hold for 18 months, then another 12 to plan your wedding. What's next, who buys a house first, has a kid first, gets a perfect fitting job first?

mcmahontobe121

my sister has been engaged for 3 years with no sign of a wedding happening. I got engaged on Christmas day and we are planning to get married in September 2015....she hasn't hid her annoyance well

AddieCake

I answered you on CC.

allispain

No, they are both being ridiculous.

One of my BMs and I got engaged the exact same day. We got married 1 month apart. Guess what? No thunder was stolen. We were both very happy for each other.

MobKaz

carolanne121 said:

my sister has been engaged for 3 years with no sign of a wedding happening. I got engaged on Christmas day and we are planning to get married in September 2015....she hasn't hid her annoyance well

How old is your sister?  Her attitude is beyond ridiculous!

downtondiva

No couple has a monopoly on their entire wedding year or engagement time. If you want to get engaged and start planning a wedding before July 2016, then that's what you should do. There is nothing rude about it. 

Liatris2010

Live your life on your timeline, not someone else's.

holyguacamole79

Knottie57141769 said:

Hey guys: i just need some perspective here! Please feel free to lend any advice you have! My boyfriend and I have been going out for about 3 years now. His sister and her partner have been going out the same amount of time. She just got engaged in November. I am beyond excited for them! And i can not wait for their day to come! Since they have gotten engaged, my boyfriend and I have begun to have deeper conversations about engaged and have actually decided to get engaged within the next few months. I was really excited for him to tell me that- UNTIL i found out that my soon to be sister in law as well as my mother in law think that, that (getting engaged and/or married) would be stealing his sister's thunder. But let me make one thing known- she has set her wedding for July 2016!!! That means i would have to wait over a year and a half to get engaged? Or if we decided to get engaged, to plan a wedding?!? I just dont think thats fair! Just cause she wants to wait that long- does that mean I should? My only sister is leaving the country in the fall of 2016 and i want her to be there with me for the planning and the wedding. Would i really be stealing her thunder if we got engaged or married (at least 6 months) before her? Please let me know your thoughts! I dont want to be irrational here. But i also dont want to be rude or put my life on hold just for her ... Thank you!

I answered your post on chit chat.

SP29

Nope. No stealing of thunder.

When choosing your date, I think it would be wise to consider anyone who would be travelling to both and family commitments- as if the two weddings are close together people may chose one over the other.

But July 2016 is a LOOOOONG time away. You could be married in 2015 if you so choose . 

mcmahontobe121

MobKaz said:

carolanne121 said:

my sister has been engaged for 3 years with no sign of a wedding happening. I got engaged on Christmas day and we are planning to get married in September 2015....she hasn't hid her annoyance well

How old is your sister?  Her attitude is beyond ridiculous!

 

My sister is 27.  There have been a few snide remarks like "have you won the lotto". Umm no we are going away and having a small wedding.  She would have had a large wedding at home so her budget for one day would be the same amount for our whole 2 weeks away!!

TayanaC

How about we all suspend our engagements so she can be the only bride in the entire world.

Are people truly that narcissistic? As long as someone doesn't get engaged at my reception, I don't see how someone else's happiness negatively impacts mine. You absolutely should not postpone your life for her ego. If you do, it will set a bad precedent and she will think nothing of asking you to postpone other important things so she can be the only one in the spotlight. Next thing you know, your water might break at her child's kindergarten graduation so you can't get pregnant until all of her milestones are done.  

As a matter of fact, because she had the audacity to ask that of you, you should step things up a bit, by not only getting engaged but making sure you get married before her.

SP29

You know what would be really bad, if you picked the same weekend in July 2015 as her weekend in July 2016 . 

(No, no, I wouldn't actually do that, then YOUR anniversary is a reminder of her). But I'm all for you getting married first, since she has some claim on no weddings until hers 1.5 years away. 

plainjane0415

TayanaC said:

How about we all suspend our engagements so she can be the only bride in the entire world.

Are people truly that narcissistic? As long as someone doesn't get engaged at my reception, I don't see how someone else's happiness negatively impacts mine. You absolutely should not postpone your life for her ego. If you do, it will set a bad precedent and she will think nothing of asking you to postpone other important things so she can be the only one in the spotlight. Next thing you know, your water might break at her child's kindergarten graduation so you can't get pregnant until all of her milestones are done.  

As a matter of fact, because she had the audacity to ask that of you, you should step things up a bit, by not only getting engaged but making sure you get married before her.

Why does the bolded matter?  How will someone getting engaged at your reception negatively affect your happiness on that day?

LarraO2530

I agree with PP, no stealing of thunder. Although, similarly, last year my younger sister got engaged in November and I in December. She is planning for Oct of 2015 and we are planning May 2016...my mother and sister, along with the rest of my family, has acted as if my engagement has never happened because "sister got engaged first so it's HER time" I should never even mention a hint of wedding details unless it is regarding my sister's BIG DAY!!!! BS. My FMIL is thrilled and has been helping us with our planning, she even took me to look at dresses and to some bridal shows. Go ahead with your planning and enjoy getting engaged, visiting venues, dress shopping etc with your FI and friends, they will regret it when they were not able to take part in as many events for you two because they were too busy hogging all the attention *at least trying to*