This is not to say that we were coerced into it of course, we've been saying for a while that we should just get married and get the legal things taken care of, but I was always the one resistant to it. I never thought this was how I would end up getting married but here it is! We are selectively telling people about it. So far his parents, my family and a few of our friends know (and you guys too
).The whole thing was stressful to be honest. We had to be at the courthouse at 4:15pm, which is prime rush hour. Our witnesses were caught in traffic and were running late. I was convinced that SO had gotten the place/procedure wrong, because I am a huge planner and had delegated this task to him and was really regretting it. But everything went as planned. Our witnesses joined us as we were filling in the application for the marriage license and we talked and bantered for a while. Basically you get your marriage license ($76) then wait around for the judge to call you. Then you go to a courtroom with your witnesses and any other people who will be watching, he marries you in the courtroom (and you pay him $60 cash... felt a bit shady, like a drug transaction!) and there it is. Our judge seemed to be in a bit of a rush and kind of powered through the whole thing really fast. So while Wes and I were lovingly gazing into each other's eyes, the judge was rushing through and was not invested at all. This gave us all a good laugh afterwards. The judge did stick around long enough to take a picture of the wedding party though!
Afterwards we went back to our house and took a few pictures in front of it, under the tree in the front yard. I feel like a proper adult now, living in a house (although we're renting) and being married. The pictures are just cell phone pictures and they're a bit goofy but I love them.
Afterwards our witnesses took us out to dinner and drinks at a local place.
We didn't think that being married would change anything, especially since we didn't make a grand affair out of it, but it did. It's hard to describe but now that we have taken our wedding vows we're somehow more committed to making this work than before... or maybe we're more willing to put finances/resources together instead of being separate. I still advocate separate finances to a certain extent but I find myself more willing to, for instance, help pay off his student loans. We've also been more affectionate with each other but I think that's just the post-wedding honeymoon phase. I'm not complaining though
Overall I really don't regret what we did although I wish circumstances had been different. Given all the horror stories I hear about brides planning their wedding I almost feel relieved to have done it this way!