My husband said yes. I asked him over text message. We married a month later with a nice ceremony surrounded by friends and family. Been going strong 9 months later. We were already going to marry, but I was impatient and I needed that security. He wanted to give me my "dream" wedding and proposal, but I realized I was okay without the big to-do. Best thing we did. Our communication and relationship is so much better now. It's not the norm, we got lucky. But it's my life and I like how it happened.

The photographer at my brother's wedding only took pictures of the bride's side of the family. He finally bothered to photograph my parents at the end of the reception, near the restrooms, when Mom was looking frazzled and Dad was drunk.

I really didn't think I would be this excited about our 'wedding'--it is just us, a few close family members, and a notary. But now we are less than 24 hours out and I am stoked! :)

After 10 years of marriage and wearing an heirloom family diamond ring from 1850, my husband took it away and gave it to his daughter. I still cry about it. I'd just nursed him through cancer when he did that. Then he gave me a fake diamond ring for my birthday. I hate wearing the new ring because it reminds me I don't have the lovely antique one. I really believe he wanted to hurt me for some reason and chose that way to do it. He's deliberately done things to hurt me in the past.

I don't want to get married, I just want to BE married. We need to have some sort of wedding though, or his family will be devastated, particularly his grandma - the dear woman would implode. I just want to avoid all the expectations and skip all the trivial trimmings. We've decided to keep our engagement a secret from every one except our international guests until the whole thing is planned out, then I can relax and enjoy the fact that we're getting married soon. Expectations and demands of other will be shot down with "too late, it's already planned and paid for."

Advice from a lady married 10 years: Don't marry a man who likes different foods than you do. It will affect your life every.single.day. Even if you agree on the big isues like family, money, sex, religion; it's the little issues that will drive you crazy as the years go by.

As much as I feel that the marriage is for us and the wedding is for the family, I struggle with the fact that I just don't want a big wedding.

My cousin had a wedding where no one other than some immediate family showed up. Not a single friends and this was a month after they graduated HS. The bride was a bitch and they had such drama filled reltionship we were all sick of them as a couple by the time they got married.

why is this "weddings are tacky after courthouse ceremonies" a thing? you don't know the situation, so how could you dismiss all the brides that are doing this as tacky? i'm doing it, and all my friends and family understand. try being married to someone in the military and then maybe you'll understand. i swear, some people think that if someone doesn't do it their way, then it's wrong.

My FDH and I will get married at the courthouse on a week day and will not be havign a reception. I really dislike going to to weddings and all the parties that come along with them. I really wish my family and friends would have just left it alone, but they pushed me so many times about why I chose not to have a wedding I finaly had to tell them I hated attending all of theirs.