On Christmas day 2015, I got engaged at the young age of 18 to my amazing fiance, Bobby Ridley. Many people have asked me why I am choosing to get married so young, and others have just straight up criticized me for my choice. Some of the people asking and criticizing are my age, and others are a lot older than me. So why am I choosing to get married so young? There are many reasons for my choice, and they are all very simple.

One reason I am choosing to get married so young is because I am deeply in love with Bobby. We had been dating for almost a year and a half when he popped the question. Because we had been dating so long prior to the engagement, it's no surprise we had been discussing the idea of getting married one day. We knew from the very start of our relationship that we were meant to be together, so why not discuss the idea and then make it happen?

My go to answer for people asking me the oh so important question is that getting married young just means more time spent growing together. With me now being 19 and Bobby 22, when we get married, we will have years to be each others' spouse. We plan on getting married after we both get out of college in about a year or so, so getting married then means we get the chance to see each other flourish in our careers, all while being by each others' side supporting one another. That is just one of the many milestones we will get to accomplish together. Some other milestones include buying our first house and possibly starting a family. There is no other person I would rather accomplish these with, and I am excited to see where life takes us.

Asking someone why they are choosing to get married young is like asking them why they are choosing to get married in general. Why should marrying young be any different than marrying later on in your life? If the two people in the relationship know they are in love, such as Bobby and I, then why should they have to wait? Of course, each couple is going to have their own priorities before marriage can happen, just like how Bobby and I plan on waiting until after college. One reason we plan on waiting until after college is so we can both have a steady career so we can afford to get our own place and start our new life. We are also waiting until after college because that gives us time to prepare and save for the wedding. We aren't waiting because we feel as if we are "too young;" we are simply waiting so we can have the wedding and future of our dreams.

Choosing to get married young doesn't mean I am missing out on anything like many people think; what it means is I won't be missing out on the opportunity to start growing that much earlier with the man of my dreams.