Pre-engagement relationship questions

SilverLining1

Because I'm very curious...

When did you start thinking that your boyfriend/FI/DH was the person that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with? Was he thinking the same thing? Did you take different amounts of time to start thinking this? How did you maintain your patience?

Tell me everything How long were you together? How old were you? How long did it take you to come to that conclusion?

SteveandKris

Yay Philadelphia.

We met in November of 2004, he claims he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me then.  We started dating in January 2007.  He proposed in December of 2009.  I think I was convinced somewhere around September of 2009

(I am currently 25, he is 30)  We get married in 38 days

birdie1020

My fiance and I met and started dating when we were both 16. He was my first boyfriend, and I think from the very beginning I knew there was something very special about us... but I was too scared to admit it because I was so afraid of losing him. Not because of anything he did or said - he was amazing from day one and still is! - but out of sheer paranoia.

Then in June of 2007, when we had been together for 8 months, we were joking around about the future and I referred to myself as his girlfriend in the story. He turned to me and said "...wouldn't you be my wife by then?" My heart just melted. So I think he and I both knew pretty early on... we just didn't verbalize it for a while

Because we were so young, we had to wait a while to get engaged. That killed me. I used to want to wait until we were seniors in college to make it official, but it bothered me that I knew he was the man I was spending the rest of my life with but I didn't get to call him my fiance, so he popped the question in January 2010! Of course, now we have to wait to get married until somewhere around 2014 for various reasons... but I'm more ok with that wait

Out of curiosity, why did you ask these questions? Just being nosy

SteveandKris

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_students_pre-engagement-relationship-questions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:684Discussion:afefe938-513a-4b92-a997-5b9705eea900Post:fc09cf66-f81b-4788-b3fc-ecd79f4123cb">Re: Pre-engagement relationship questions</a>:
[QUOTE]My fiance and I met and started dating when we were both 16. He was my first boyfriend, and I think from the very beginning I knew there was something very special about us... but I was too scared to admit it because I was so afraid of losing him. Not because of anything he did or said - he was amazing from day one and still is! - but out of sheer paranoia. Then in June of 2007, when we had been together for 8 months, we were joking around about the future and I referred to myself as his girlfriend in the story. He turned to me and said "...wouldn't you be my wife by then?" My heart just melted. So I think he and I both knew pretty early on... we just didn't verbalize it for a while :) Because we were so young, we had to wait a while to get engaged. That killed  me. I used to want to wait until we were seniors in college to make it official, but it bothered me that I knew he was the man I was spending the rest of my life with but I didn't get to call him my fiance, so he popped the question in January 2010! Of course, now we have to wait to get married until somewhere around 2014 for various reasons... but I'm more ok with that wait :) Out of curiosity, why did you ask these questions? <strong>Just being nosy :)
</strong>Posted by birdie1020[/QUOTE]

and where are you in school; how old are you, etc?

FaithCaitlin

I've been dating my FI since I was 15. We've been together for over 5 years now. I know this sounds strange but I knew he was the "one" from the start. The way I knew was simple: we've had more than our fair share of fights and when I thought about breaking it off, I absolutely couldn't because I couldn't imagine my life without him.

FI treats me like a princess and we sure do still have our fights (and some days he drives me nuts!), but at the end of the day, he's my best friend and I couldn't imagine spending the next 65 years with anyone but him!

Edited to add that I will be almost 22 when we get married and he will be 24. I will be graduating 2 weeks before the wedding and FI graduated in 2010.

birdie1020

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_students_pre-engagement-relationship-questions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:684Discussion:afefe938-513a-4b92-a997-5b9705eea900Post:6ec38f33-c4bc-4050-b636-dc1e2dc9a1cd">Re: Pre-engagement relationship questions</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Pre-engagement relationship questions : and where are you in school; how old are you, etc?
Posted by SteveandKris[/QUOTE]

I am turning 21 in October and graduating with my degree in English and educational studies in December. My fiance is already 21 (his birthday is in February) and in the process of joining the Marines; he should be done with boot camp around the same time that I graduate! By the time we get married, we will be 23 or 24 (he'll probably already be 24 - we're only the same age for 4 months out of the year).

SilverLining1

Thanks for replying!

I ask because of my relationship with my boyfriend right now. We've been dating for a year and a half and we're both in our second year of college, so there's definitely no rush or anything. I am almost completely positive that I want to spend the rest of my life with him, but I also know that that could change in the next few years (I don't think it will at all, I just think that it's "possible"). He's a little bit different. I have previous relationships to compare this to, while he does not. For that and a few other reasons, I think that he will take a bit longer to think about our relationship past college, etc. I'm fine with this, because we are young and haven't been together all that long, because he's a guy and I think that he doesn't think as far into the future, and because I can't imagine being happier with anyone else. 

All that said, I'm terribly impatient

birdie1020

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_students_pre-engagement-relationship-questions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:684Discussion:afefe938-513a-4b92-a997-5b9705eea900Post:fe96feda-5d81-4aa8-936c-ba8958dba2cd">Re: Pre-engagement relationship questions</a>:
[QUOTE]Thanks for replying! I ask because of my relationship with my boyfriend right now. We've been dating for a year and a half and we're both in our second year of college, so there's definitely no rush or anything. I am almost completely positive that I want to spend the rest of my life with him, but I also know that that could change in the next few years (I don't think it will at all, I just think that it's "possible"). <strong>He's a little bit different. I have previous relationships to compare this to, while he does not.</strong> For that and a few other reasons, I think that he will take a bit longer to think about our relationship past college, etc. I'm fine with this, because we are young and haven't been together all that long, because he's a guy and I think that he doesn't think as far into the future, and because I can't imagine being happier with anyone else.  All that said, I'm terribly impatient :)
Posted by SilverLining1[/QUOTE]

<div>I thought it was interesting that you mentioned this. Like I said above, my fiance was my first boyfriend. I wasn't his first girlfriend, though. While I do think that we both more or less realized how we felt around the same time, I do know that every now and then I used to wonder how I could know he was the one if I had never been with anyone else. But whenever I told him, he assured me that our relationship was very different from any other he'd been in, and that he was confident that what we had was special. </div><div>
</div><div>So if your boyfriend does go through the same thought process, giving him your perspective might help. It helped me! But, of course, he has to realize it on his own first :)</div>

shopgrl3177

FI and I met about 2 years ago, when I was 27 and he was 26.  We both knew after about 2 months, and knew it was only a matter of time before he proposed.  We moved in together right around the 1 year mark and he proposed 4 months later.

LauraT25

We met when we were both 18, and started dating at 20.  We got married when we were 26.  It's really hard for me to answer this question because I knew objectively that we would be good together before I even considered that we might date; we were both in long-term relationships with other people when we met and we immediately became best friends, and I used to joke that we could be roommates in grad school because we got along so well.

At some point before we started dating, we fell in love with each other but we didn't say anything right away - we both thought that the other thought we were 'just friends'.  So I knew that I could marry him, and would, if given the chance, but I didn't think it would happen.  We started talking about marriage pretty early on in the relationship (after a month or so), but he didn't propose until we had been dating for 5 years, and I didn't expect it because he'd always made a big deal about waiting until we finished grad school.

BunnyChii

FI and I started dating in our sophomore year of HS. We've been together for five years and will be together for seven before we finally tie the knot. He proposed last November when I was a week away from 21, and he was already 21. 
FI says that he knew in our senior year of HS that I was the one he wanted to marry. I took a little more time, but that's not because I wasn't totally in love with him, just a little more cautious. After he was there for me during some really trying times when we were both 18, I knew he was the one.
FI and I have had MANY extensive talks about marriage for a long time - probably since we were 18. We talked about how much we wanted to get married, and about a year ago we began to talk about the details, such as children, finances, religion (we're interfaith), etc. FI actually confided in me after we got engaged that he felt we had been engaged for a long time and that he was just making it "official." I guess it's because we were so set on getting married for so long.
I think FI proposed at the perfect time. We're still young and planning on a two year engagement (I'll be 23, he'll have just turned 24), but I think we were really ready to get engaged at that point. It's funny, because until a month or two before he proposed, I wasn't really thinking about getting engaged. It wasn't really the main thing on my mind. That's why I think it was so perfect - I wasn't waiting around, impatiently waiting for him to propose. But when he did propose, it felt right.
People give us a lot of grief over our age, but I still feel like the timing is perfect. 

birdie1020

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_students_pre-engagement-relationship-questions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:684Discussion:afefe938-513a-4b92-a997-5b9705eea900Post:4a2b4ebb-6bec-45ec-9dce-d65a15d93d5a">Re: Pre-engagement relationship questions</a>:
[QUOTE]FI and I started dating in our sophomore year of HS. We've been together for five years and will be together for seven before we finally tie the knot. He proposed last November when I was a week away from 21, and he was already 21.  FI says that he knew in our senior year of HS that I was the one he wanted to marry. I took a little more time, but that's not because I wasn't totally in love with him, just a little more cautious. After he was there for me during some really trying times when we were both 18, I knew he was the one. FI and I have had MANY extensive talks about marriage for a long time - probably since we were 18. We talked about how much we wanted to get married, and about a year ago we began to talk about the details, such as children, finances, religion (we're interfaith), etc. FI actually confided in me after we got engaged that he felt we had been engaged for a long time and that he was just making it "official." I guess it's because we were so set on getting married for so long. I think FI proposed at the perfect time. We're still young and planning on a two year engagement (I'll be 23, he'll have just turned 24), but I think we were really ready to get engaged at that point. It's funny, because until a month or two before he proposed, I wasn't really thinking about getting engaged. It wasn't really the main thing on my mind. That's why I think it was so perfect - I wasn't waiting around, impatiently waiting for him to propose. But when he did propose, it felt right. <strong>People give us a lot of grief over our age, but I still feel like the timing is perfect. </strong>
Posted by BunnyChii[/QUOTE]

<div>I'm so tired of getting grief about it, too!! My fiance and I also had many long, in-depth talks about marriage and the rest of our lives over the course of our relationship before getting engaged. I wished people would look at how long we've been together, as well as how happy and stable we've been through that time, before judging us for our age.</div>

faith415

FI and I met when I was 15 and he was 17. We started dating at 16 and 18. We knew we were in love with each other pretty early on, but I was too cautious about anything to say that I wanted to spend my life with him for sure at that point. He left for college after we had only been dating for 8 months. After that first year of long distance I knew that we could get through anything and would probably be together forever. When I left for college even farther away we began talking about marriage and the future, but I was always careful to say what I wanted instead of what we wanted. FI was always the one to talk about our future together and to assure me that it was going to happen. I knew for sure that I wanted to spend my life with him during that year. We started seriously talking about getting engaged near the end of my sophmore year. We were going to get engaged and married earlier, but things with FI's schooling prevented that. Needless to say I was very ready to be engaged when FI proposed in October 2010. When we get married we'll be 22 and 24 and 2 weeks away from 6 years together.

Cony&Ben

I was 21 and FI was 22 when we first met. When I started getting to know FI (before we dated), I immediately had the thought that he might be the one just because of how much we had in common. I laughed it off and thought I was being weird. But turns out I was right! We began dating and were practically living together within a few months. We moved in together just over a year after we first met.

He was my first (and only) long-term relationship and I was his second. Everyone told me the "honeymoon" period of a relationship lasts about 6 months to a year. I think ours lasted over 2 years. We've had a lot of talks along the way about our relationship and where we were headed. We also talked a lot about what we would do about any major problems that developed between us.

We started talking about marriage probably within a year of living together but didn't get engaged until the beginning of this year. We're now 30 and 31. Even though we were sure of each other from the beginning, we wanted to finish getting our degrees before getting married. Since we both worked while going to school, it took us a little longer to get to this point.

whitma87

Hi Philly!!

we started talking about getting married about 2.5 years into our relationship. Boyfriend took 1.5 years to propose.. he proposed on our 4 year anniversary. I wanted to get engaged 2.5 years into it.. he wanted to wait obviously until 4 years. lol. But it was worth it.

We started dating when I was 16, he was 27 (it was rough at first, but both our parents came around to it, and our families love us both)

got engaged when I was 20, he was 31. Getting married when i'm 21 and he'll be 32.

he wanted to wait until things were in place.. i'll be out of school in a few weeks.. we'll be moving in and i'll be getting a job.. and then we'll have our wedding.

stacie+luciano

I was 21 and he was 28, we met a year ago last Saturday (:D) and instantly became a couple (the same night pretty much..we just knew I guess). I was with him for a few weeks before he told me he loved me. We were outside and I was leaving and he kissed me and told me, and thought I would run away. When he said it, I just knew he was the one. Then I moved in with him and it felt even more perfect.

 

We had chit-chatted about marriage but nothing serious until he told me he wouldn't be happy unless I was his wife and knew that I wanted him to be my husband. I picked out the ring  because I didnt want him spending an arm and a leg on a diamond (I even placed the order). He did this on February 12th of this year and we're getting married in July. 

We just knew. I knew he was perfect in every way. I was sick shortly after we met (and when I'm sick. I'm near death pretty much thanks to a shot immune system), and he took care of me no matter what. He would let me sleep on his couch (before I moved in) and let me stay the night so he could keep me safe. I think I knew the night we met that I wanted to be with him for forever (I was at a small party at his house, and we had 'met' in the parking lot of a store and I was just hoping he was single, cause if he wasn't i was going to be very, very mad). We did the whole lock eyes and stare..everything dissapeared ahaha. I think thats when I knew. I dunno about him. But when he told me he loved me, I was ga-ga from then on, and I still am :]

SilverLining1

I'm glad there's a lot of diversity here! (Also, hi Philly!)

I know we would both definitely want to graduate before an engagement. Sometimes I just get concerned because I feel like he'll think that we're too young to be engaged. Which I know I shouldn't worry about right now, it's entirely too silly. We do talk about our future in a very abstract way, and he's definitely becoming more open to the idea. I guess he's just a lot more cautious than I am, which is fine. Although I do joke with him about the fact that my engagement ring would be free (a beautiful family ring), so I don't know what he's so worried about :P

Anyway, I'm just impatient and wanted some reassurance that these things really can take some time

cupcakewarfare

I was just going to lurk on this post, but you said you wanted some reassurance, so here I am, haha. 

We started dating when I was 16 and he was 18. I was his first gf. When I was about 18, we chatted about how we figured we'd go get our 4 year degrees and then get married the year after senior year of college. By that calculation, I'd have been 22 when I got married. Well college took me 5 years, and he still hadn't gotten an Associates, but we didn't have the money to get hitched so we just played it cool. I started grad school, he completely revamped his Associates aspirations. And then his dad got cancer. He dropped out of school to take care of his dad and I had no choice but to push on because of loans. Last September, we started talking much more seriously about getting married, but wanted to hold off any decisions while his dad was still with us because his dad was having a hard time letting go. We didn't want him to worry about what he'd be missing out on. So.... the time came and we got engaged a week after he passed. 

Our engagement was about 2 weeks before our 9 year anniversary and our wedding day is on our 10 year anniversary. Not many people can say that (and I'm pumped!!).

helenmreich

I'm glad I'm not the only one who will have a long engagement! We aren't engaged yet, but it's definitely coming soon... We started dating when we were both 16, or first relationship for both, and since then we have really just known (we have been dating 5 1/2 years)...in high school he used to say he would marry me right then if he could...we probably won't get married until 2013 when I finish grad school. My BF claims that, the second day we had known eachother, we went on a run, he looked over at me an knew I was "the one." I didn't become really certain until we came to college together. I had a really hard time adjusting and he was always there for me. That was a super disjointed post...I cant think today! A secret package came in the mail this morning and I'm pretty sure it's am engagement ring, even though my BF says it's cooking stuff for my birthday, which is tomorrow...

FutureMrsSheeler

My fiance says he knew that when we were just friends, he knew he would marry me. It took me about a month or so after he knew to figure out that he was the one for me. It was the strangest feeling, because I never believed my mom or grandma when they said "When you know, you know" because that is exactly what happened. It was hard ot be patient for us to look at rings and get engaged, but we waiting a year and a half. We met our freshman year of college, started dating the end of our freshman year, got engaged the summer of our junior year, and are getting married right after we graduate. 

JA2003

 We started dating when we were 15. We were both each other's first relationship and we actually had met  three days before we started officially dating. Yes, THREE! Cuz, ya know at 15 we were like, "oh you're cute, let's date." haha! Everyone mocks our story, but I love it. (as does he) He said he didn't need anymore time than that to know that I was the one for him. Aw I fell for him immediately,  and we've been connected every since!

We've been together 8 years last month, and got engaged 8 years to the day that we met. He actually proposed saying that "8 years ago today, I met you". We started talking about the future our Sr year in HS when we were looking at colleges. His family was not supportive of him wanting to attend college, he's a 1st generation; but mine was the complete opposite-I grew up knowing that after HS, comes college. ( If you know what I mean.) So, when we decided to attend the same school, he said that he was happy we would experience this all together and grow old together. (Cue "Grow old with you" song from the Wedding Singer..) 
 
Now, we're finishing up our Bachelor's and I'll continue on towards my Master's next year. He'll be done with school (for now) and start his career. (In his field, a master's is not required/necessary) (lucky duck!) We're getting married at the end of the year and I can't wait!

minxi

sorry for the length, oh boy...
ETA: tl;dr - We met second semester freshman year of university. Dated for almost 2.5 years when he proposed. He proposed at 5:30am under the stars of the Mojave desert.


I met my FI second semester freshman year of university. We were taking an Introduction to Acting class together. My first memory of him is during an activity where I pointed at him and yelled "ASIAN!" and his first memory of me was me sitting in the front of the class playing Pokemon.
At the time we were both in relationships. His would go sour in about a year, it would take two for me.
When we started dating I had just turned 20 and he was 19. The relationship started with a "Well we both like each other, so do you want to try going out? See how it goes?" To this day we both joke that we have yet to progress out of the "trying out" phase. (We never said "Yeah, you know what? This works. We're totally official.") haha
We never really talked about marriage. I think we both avoided the subject because it was complicated. The complication came from the fact that he is not an American citizen and I feared that I may marry him just to keep him in the country. (I fooled myself into believing I was "in love" with a man for three years before I left him and got with my FI. I didn't really trust myself.) I have to say that we talked about marriage maybe 3-4 times, and did come to the conclusion that yes, we could see ourselves married with children.
Realizing I was just putting my heart on lock-down, I eased up on myself. I put myself at ease and knew the facts of my relationship. I was happy, I was in love (for real), and I had the greatest guy suited for me by my side.
On April 8th, just 12days shy of our 2.5yr anniversary, the (then) BF was throwing out ideas of what to do for our "date day." The week before or so we decided that this Friday we were going on a date. He wanted to go to the restaraunt we went to on our first date. I wanted to get out of the usual area we hang around (restaraunt is in said area). He thought snowboarding would be fun, I didn't want to wake up early (at 6am while we were talking plans at 2am). I jokingly threw out "Vegas" and he laughed and agreed. Then we decided that we were actually going to do this crazy impromptu trip. We went home, packed overnight bags, booked a stay at a hotel on the strip, and hopped in the car for a 4hr drive.
At the start of the drive my BF told me that we should stop in the desert to look at the stars since we rarely get to see them from the city. I grew up in the country and always loved starlight so I was excited to do this.
Around 5am we finally find a spot to pull off the freeway that was far enough from the surrounding towns in the Mojave. We stood out in the cold and just watched the stars.After about thirty minutes of lovey-dovey-ness and my picking my nose thinking how dorky my BF is he gets on his knees. I'm thinking "What did you drop? Why are you down there?" and that is when the BF became the FI.
We hadn't talked about marriage in months, so I was not expecting a proposal at all. And from what I found out, he didn't know how he was going to proposal, only that he was. Spontaneous and a bit awkward, I couldn't have thought of a more perfect way for us. We hopped back in the car and completed our drive. We celebrated our engagement in Las Vegas.

BTW, I also saw two shooting stars while we were before the proposal

And there is the sweetness of my story. There are many funny tidbits that are minor details, great ones being excluded from the description of the proposal unfortunately haha.

Man this was long. Sorry guys, it was my first time writing something like this out. I need to work on a condensed soup version.

BronwynH

I met my FI in high school. We didn't become good friends until our Junior year. He liked me, but I wasn't into him (in fact I was sort of seeing his best friend). But we stayed friends and talked all the time. Then our senior year, we went on our senior class trip to Guatemala to do mission work. It was there that I knew I would love to date him because I could see the man he is going to become. After that trip, we hung out alot, but didn't start dating we were still just friends. Then when we went on a camping trip with our school, we really started to get close. We started dating the week that we graduated high school. I left 2 weeks later to spend 2 months in Guatemala doing mission work. It was during this time when we would talk on skype for a couple hours a night that we both knew that we wanted to be together forever. I think he knew first; I was sort of scared. We've both changed alot in the past year, but it's brought us so much closer. We've come to understand more of what our future together will hold. We'll be getting married in the middle of our sophomore year of college, and I can't wait!

mgangney

My FI and I met when I was nine-years-old and he was fourteen.  He worked at my family's marina as a dockboy, and frequently made me lunch.  We re-met my senior year of high school (his first year out of college) because friends of ours started dating each other.  I couldn't get over how funny, but shy and not-so-confident he was.  He is the smartest person I've ever met in my life, and it didn't take long for me to be interested.  I decided the night of our first date I wanted to marry him (well, I guess I told my cousins when I was nine, but I don't really remember that).  He was a little reluctant to make anything too official because I was just graduating high school while he was just about to start a Master's program, but we were best friends and took our relationship really really slow.  By the first year mark, I admitted that I'd thought this was it for me since our first date, and he agreed but never went into the discussion too much.  We broke up for a little over a month right as we approached the two year mark, but got back together right before he moved to Florida (I'm in Ohio finishing college).  Shortly after reuniting, I left for a six-week trip to Europe.  Right before leaving, he made a surprise visit and gave me a promise ring and promised he would propose "someday."  That was in February, he proposed in July, and we've been happily doing long distance engagment with very nice interludes of time together (he's a teacher, so he gets nice breaks, etc).  We're getting married in July of 2012, and I'm moving to Florida with him for the summer so that we can get some kind of a routine before I graduate and get married all at once (plus I just miss him). So, I would say I knew since the very first date that I wanted to marry him, but he wasn't as serious about it as me until we had time a part and he decided he could't live that way again (that's not at all why we broke up, though, I'm not an ultimatem kind of person, I could have been patient).  But, anyway, it's kind of like the William and Kate thing, neither of us were happy about the break up at the time, but it really was what solidifed that we picked each other and this was it and nothing else would do.

LadyMadrid08

I usually only lurk on this board since I am already married and a student (graduating in a few days!).  I like seeing other people's stories as well. 

I met DH when I was 19 and he was 25.  I knew he was the one for about a month before he propose and I honestly didn't expect it would happen so soon, but it worked for us.  6 months in he proposed and we were married a year later.  I honestly think it's different for everyone, but you definitely both have to be on the same page an know you want the same things out of life.  Good luck!

Special2011

I met my fiance' at the ripe old age of 9 but we didn't became friends until I was 16. About this time I started noticing him- he was so different than all the other boys I knew. The next year was when I really knew that he was the one. Being only 17 and knowing I'd have to finish college before getting married, I said nothing and we remained friends. People started telling me that he liked me- while I was telling myself he was just that nice to everybody! (he later told me that he first noticed/ liked me about the same time!) I guess we were unofficially together a couple years later, and "officially" a couple by the time I was 20. He proposed Valetines Day of this year! The date is August 13th- he'll be 23 and I'll be 22. (yes, young college graduates ready to take on the world together!)

Patience is hard! He proposed about 4 1/2 years after I knew I was going to marry him, and about a month after he asked my father's permission. (which was another lesson in patience..)

blacktopaz32

well... we talked about marriage before we even met. i searched for someone to be  my everything online and after eight months i was about to give up when Ryan popped up and sent me a message. we talked for about a week online.... about everything under the sun; babies, marriage... EVERYTHING! so one night he decided to meet me at an IHOP and things went great and took off from there.

 after three months he texted me asking what kind of ring i would like. i was sooo excited! after that we went through some troubles but made it through. even with some pain left behind (he didn't cheat) i could still see him as the father of my children and as my wonderful loving husband. so after many months passed, September 1st came and he knelt down on one knee and asked the words i couldn't wait to hear! I love you, will you marry me?? i said YES!!!!!!!!

our wedding is set for October 29th 2011 and we are sooo happy! when we met i was 18 and he was 21. we'll be 20 and 23 when we get married. we've been together for a year and a half and i've never been so in love!!

softersounds

let me first begin by saying we haven't known each other long and i know it looks like we're crazy. we met at the end of january this year, and we're planning to elope in august. we met through mutual friends one night and spent the next week together before he left to finish his deployment. he asked me to "wait" for him after three days of knowing each other and i was really hesitant to say yes because it's a pretty big commitment to make to someone i've only known a few days, but i told him yes anyway because i knew i wouldn't want to see anyone else while he was gone anyway.

at the time i didn't even have a specific reason why, i just knew he was going to be a big deal and i better keep him. i've never been the kind of girl to care about getting married or anything and i always assumed i'd be in one of those couples who are together forever but never tie the knot officially, but he completely changed my mind about it. i want to be married to him so bad, he's everything i can imagine myself wanting. we've had a lot of in depth discussions about what we want and expect out of marriage and out of life and we match up on all the big issues.

i felt ridiculous talking to my friends about it at first but no one is really judging me for the timing because they know i'm not the type at all to jump into anything. it's fast but i guess when you know you know. and i've never been so sure about anything ever.

MissRutig

I "officially" met my FI in 10th Grade. We had both just turned 15. I say officially, because we had gone to school together since 7th grade, had classes together, and in 9th grade had math together. but i never talked to him, just knew him around.
In 10th grade we had English class together and due to alphabetical seating we got set next to each other... He's a R & im a W. Our friendship started from notepassing, and him cheating(with my permission of course) off of my english work. LoL I had liked him ALL semester and was given up hope, hes the shy type around girls i guess, but he finally asked me out March 27th of 2004.  I was his first g/f... unless 8th grade half hand holding counts... and he was my first boyfriend of over 1 week. We dated all threw high school and for a year after graduation. We had started taking classes at the local community college in town, but he eventually stopped to make money roofing with his dad. In 2007 we went our separate way for a little while. We both knew we loved each other, but at the same time had that "well i've been dating you since i was 15, who am i to know what real love is" attitude. During our time apart we both saw some other people, but still kept in contact. After me and the guy i was seeing called things off, me and my FI started spending more time together again.
After 6 months of that we realized we really wanted to be with the other and Started dating again April 2010. We got our first apartment together right after turning 22, and we are about to be buying a house in September.
The engagement was May 4 of this year, and we are planning a March 2013 wedding. I figured with work, school, and buying a new house... adding a wedding would be too much to handle.. so we are taking our time and enjoying our long engagement.

I had marriage on the mind since December, but im not sure when it really clicked in his head that he really wanted to do it. He had mentioned to his parents in March that he "was thinking of asking me", but nothing serious. When it came time to get a ring, he went to the store by himself on a Monday, and gave it to me that Wednesday.

I love hearing other peoples stories! what a great post!