College Students Care More About Their Dream Wedding Than Marriage | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Swoon

Girls Who Get Married At 20 Care More About Their Dream Wedding Than The Actual Marriage

Why are we all rushing to 'play house' and get married and have children before we have a degree in our hands?

63
Girls Who Get Married At 20 Care More About Their Dream Wedding Than The Actual Marriage

It has been brought to my attention that young women are "rushing" to get married. I see 18-year-olds getting engaged, 19-year-olds getting married, and 20-year-olds having babies. Although there's nothing wrong with this and I write this article with no shame toward these women, I do have some thoughts that maybe someone can clarify.

Why are these women desperate to "play house" so young?

"Playing house" as a kid was fun and exciting and gave us as kids a sense of responsibility — dreaming of what adulthood might be like. Playing house made us as kids feel like we had a purpose or had something to contribute to, whether that was contributing to our pretend marriages, pretend children, or other demands we made up in our heads. I just wonder, if you knew how hard it really was to be an adult, how hard it is to make a marriage last, and how hard it was to raise a child when we are still children ourselves, would we still want to grow up this fast?

What about getting married at 20 is appealing to you?

Do some women not realize that after you get married you will be so broke you will be grocery shopping at the dollar store and will have to donate plasma for money once a month? I get wanting to share life's experiences with someone you love, but you can do that without getting married. You can be dating or in a long term engagement and still enjoy everything life has to offer.

Are you really willing to give up your independence this young?

And become reliant on someone else entirely? Are you really ready to give up your experience as a young, beautiful college girl for something you can't possibly be prepared for yet?

I know weddings are fun and exciting. I know the process of finding your dress and picking out flowers and a location is fun. But what's not fun is the bill afterward. The bill for the catering, the DJ, the venue. What isn't fun is the fact that your wedding flies by and it feels like it lasted two minutes. What isn't fun is having a dramatic, jealous bridal party.

I am not anti-marriage, though this article makes me sound like it. I love the idea of a wedding and marriage and feeling beautiful and excited. I, like you, have been planning my wedding since I was six years old and I love the idea of a fall wedding with sunflowers and burgundy bridesmaids dresses. I love the idea of wedding cake tastings and wedding planning.

I don't think that this generation realizes that marriage is a full-time job and that there is a lot more work that goes into a marriage than goes into a relationship or engagement.

I think our generation is so focused on the aesthetics of weddings and building a life that looks glamorous to the outside world, that we often forget to stop and think about the difficulties we will face as we grow into real adulthood.

If you want to get married at 18, I support you. I just hope you know what you're walking into and the work you're going to have to put in to build a strong foundation for your marriage.

Follow Swoon on Instagram.

Report this Content
Gilmore Girls
Hypable

In honor of Mother’s Day, I have been thinking of all the things my mom does for my family and me. Although I couldn’t write nearly all of them, here are a few things that moms do for us.

They find that shirt that’s right in front of you, but just you can’t seem to find.

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

10 Reasons To Thank Your Best Friend

Take the time to thank that one friend in your life you will never let go of.

2774
Thank You on wooden blocks

1. Thank you for being the one I can always count on to be honest.

A true friend will tell you if the shirt is ugly, or at least ask to borrow it and "accidentally" burn it.

2. Thank you for accepting me for who I am.

A best friend will love you regardless of the stale french fries you left on the floor of your car, or when you had lice in 8th grade and no one wanted to talk to you.

Keep Reading...Show less
sick student
StableDiffusion

Everybody gets sick once in a while, but getting sick while in college is the absolute worst. You're away from home and your mom who can take care of you and all you really want to do is just be in your own bed. You feel like you will have never-ending classwork to catch up on if you miss class, so you end up going sick and then it just takes longer to get better. Being sick in college is really tough and definitely not a fun experience. Here are the 15 stages that everyone ends up going through when they are sick at college.

Keep Reading...Show less
kid
Janko Ferlic
Do as I say, not as I do.

Your eyes widen in horror as you stare at your phone. Beads of sweat begin to saturate your palm as your fingers tremble in fear. The illuminated screen reads, "Missed Call: Mom."

Growing up with strict parents, you learn that a few things go unsaid. Manners are everything. Never talk back. Do as you're told without question. Most importantly, you develop a system and catch on to these quirks that strict parents have so that you can play their game and do what you want.

Keep Reading...Show less
friends
tv.com

"Friends" maybe didn’t have everything right or realistic all the time, but they did have enough episodes to create countless reaction GIFs and enough awesomeness to create, well, the legacy they did. Something else that is timeless, a little rough, but memorable? Living away from the comforts of home. Whether you have an apartment, a dorm, your first house, or some sort of residence that is not the house you grew up in, I’m sure you can relate to most of these!

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments