He proposed to me on my 19th birthday. I've always been a very traditional person (though a bit offbeat) and unlike my friends, who are waiting until far later in life to tie the knot, I did not bat an eye at being proposed to at such a "young" age.
Some backstory: I've lived on my own for three years now. A year ago I moved in with my fiance. We were very close friends who always wanted to date each other, but couldn't because we lived very far away and he was also five years older than me. A couple of years ago, we decided that we would give the relationship a serious shot. The agreement was that if we could not see ourselves marrying each other, we would end the relationship. Up until that point, we had both been seeing other people and our other relationships never really worked out. After agreeing to commit to each other, things took off fast. We moved in last spring (more out of practicality than anything else), continued to do great, and last December he proposed. My family was ecstatic. His family took some time to warm up, but after they did they were just as happy for us.
Everything was great. We decided on a long engagement (pushing the wedding to fall of 2012) and took the time to relax. My friends were happy for me, my family was, and I thought everything was going to turn out handy-dandy.
Then the grocery store cashier incident occured. A lady on her thirties saw my ring, and asked me straight up if I was pregnant. When I said no, she looked baffled and said "what are you getting married for, then!?". She was only the first in a long line of people waiting to criticize me, tell me to wait, accuse me of being pregnant or trying to get pregnant, and much more. I expected some hesitation from people because I'm younger than a lot of other brides, but I did not expect to have people repeatedly make jabs at my own personal business like that.
Cashiers, sales associates at bridal boutiques, acquaintences who I no longer talk to, and people from high school. Rumors circulated about my personal business. People saw my ring and raised eyebrows at me, and whenever I mentioned on an online forum that I was engaged everyone felt the need to say "no need to rush things".
My marriage is between me, my future husband, and God. It's a serious covenant that I do not intend to rush into. We attend premarital counseling every other week, and our pastor certainly seems to think we're ready.
I've had some great support in the past few weeks from complete strangers, which has really lifted my spirits. I'm very thankful to God for the support I'm getting, because without it I think I would be going nuts.
I'm in the minority. Not many other women my age are Christians, and even less of them intend to marry any time soon. I am completely comfortable going down the path God has chosen for me, and I know it's going to be hard as nails to do so. I lift my head, try to smile at as many people I can, and try not to let negativity get to me so much anymore. When complete strangers criticize me, it gets awkward, but I smile and laugh it off. I hope the other brides on here do the same! (If you're still even reading this)
Christian, Atheist, Muslim, Buddhist, Magician, Agnostic, or whichever type of bride you are, you deserve to be happy about your wedding day! Don't let other people come between you and your marriage.
It's been really awkward for me, and I hope that in the future other brides like me feel a lot less alone. Can anybody else relate to my situation?
I'd like to hear your stories.