the pros and cons of getting married young

This week Nigel and I are celebrating our second anniversary. This is crazy to me as it simultaneously feels like it has been forever, but also only just a few months since we tied the knot. (Plus this gives me a chance to go back to some of my favourite wedding photos)

I got married at 22, which is quite young, and definitely earlier than even I assumed that I would be getting married. I also have very different groups of friends, one group has quite a few people who got or are getting married in their early 20’s and the other group isn’t in that stage of life yet so I have gotten lots of different reactions from them, and new people that I meet about the fact that I got married so young.

Now there are definitely some pros and cons to getting married young and today as we are celebrating our cotton anniversary (and yes we are coordinating our anniversary gifts to the traditional anniversary gifts) I am going to talk to you about them.

Pro: We got to grow and learn and break into adulthood together. While some people say that you don’t know yourself in your early 20s I love that I am able to spend getting to know me while being married.

Con: Everyone immediately starts asking about babies. Now I do not feel ready for that (and definitely didn’t two years ago), but it seemed like as soon as we tied the knot people started asking about when we were having children. You would think because we were young people would want us to wait a bit, but no.

Pro: Support when I was doing my masters. When I first started dating Nigel I told him very firmly that I wasn’t getting married until I was completed all of my schooling, but that eventually changed. In the end I loved having that support system throughout my final two years of school; for reading my papers, and for allowing me to only focus on my schoolwork and volunteering.

Con: Having to explain to everyone why I got married so young. When people asking when I got married and learn the answer quite often they are confused and want to know why I did that, sometimes thinking that I wasted the best years of my life. Most people can’t seem to understand, and honestly it gets tiring to explain to everyone.

Pro: We get to explore the world together. I have never been one who wanted to go off and backpack by myself so I love that all my adventures get to be with him.

Con: Sometimes I really don’t feel like I know what I am doing, like I really am too young for all of this (but at least I get to learn alongside of him)

And the Final Pro: I found my person early. I love that I get to spend most of my life with the person I love so much, I get to learn and grow with him, go on adventures with him, and live life with him.

I love you Nigel, thanks for the past two years and I can’t wait for all the years to come.