I can’t remember the last time I did something because it felt right. Sure, I exercise at least three times a week because I feel like I’m supposed to. I splurge on new sneakers sometimes because I want to. But I’m quite certain I can count on one hand the times I’ve done something because it felt overwhelmingly right. One of those moments was saying I love you, romantically, for the first time. After I said it, I felt like I was surrounded by warmth, like I was precisely where I was supposed to be.
Out of respect for the preciousness of such a wholehearted decision, I am working on being less judgmental when I see someone following their heart — no matter how skeptical I might be about the rationality of their decision-making. Take, for example, the recent engagement of Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin; they’re both under the age of 25 and they haven’t been consistently together for even a year, so their decision to get married has made many people (myself included) a bit wary. The same goes for Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson: when I first heard that the couple had only dated for a few weeks before Davidson popped the question, my first instinct was to roll my eyes to infinity and beyond.
Granted, the odds aren’t great for couples who opt for a shotgun wedding; for example, people who date longer before they get married report higher marital satisfaction and lower risk of divorce, according to a study cited by The Cut. That said, who ever called caution the spice of life? Yes, marriage is a high stake union, both emotionally and financially. But after perusing (via Instagram DM) the whirlwind romances of some MR community members, I’m starting realize that when it comes to love, sentiment often trumps statistics. There’s something undeniably special about a person trusting their gut and trusting in their partner. As they say, when you know, you know.
Continue below to learn about couples who quickly fell into love and stayed there.
“I married my landlord three months after moving into my apartment. I didn’t have to pay rent anymore and 15 years later, he has not had to give me back my deposit.”
Laura, 56
“I got pregnant before our one year anniversary. Still not married and in no rush as the baby became priority, but have never looked back. Sometimes not dwelling on decisions for too long is healthy and having a baby and getting married when you’re still in the giddy phase makes it extra special. Three years later, I am still very happy and so glad we rushed into things. Still want to spend the rest of my life with him.”
Gaia, 31
“I got engaged after only three months of dating. We set the wedding date for a year after but still, it was pretty crazy. I felt a bit embarrassed to tell my parents and friends because I knew they were going to think I was crazy. I thought about keeping it a secret for a couple months until it was more sensible to say, but in the end I was super excited and couldn’t resist. I told everybody and surprisingly everyone said they were NOT surprised. We’re celebrating our fifth anniversary this year and (this is actually a secret) expecting our first child.”
Cecilia, 32
“I got married after seeing my now-husband of two years for only eighteen days in person. Sounds crazy, but we just knew and lived super far apart. We met at at a work conference. I’m from San Francisco and he’s English — I now live in the UK! We combined our last names; I was AbiNader, he was Dyer. We are now both legally, AbiDyer.”
Miranda. 26
“Me and my husband got engaged after dating ten months at the ages of 22 and 21. We are now happily married almost four years! We actually met on a Ryanair plane on the way to Malta from Manchester, where I was studying abroad at the time. People said we were crazy, but we just knew it was right.”
Lauren, 27
“I got married to my husband without meeting him. We talked over Skype and chats and we told our parents we wanted to get married. Nobody was in favour of this arrangement because it was so bizarre! He is American and I am Indian, but I lived most of my life in Dubai. On our first date in India, we were picking out his outfit for our wedding. He doesn’t speak Hindi and my parents don’t speak English — it was really funny. We have been married for almost five years. We visit the US once a year to meet his family and Dubai to meet my friends. He has learned Hindi for me and loves living with me in India. We are very happy together, our parents are very happy as well. It was one of the biggest gambles of our lives, but I think we got really lucky with each other. It’s a very unconventional arrangement, but I knew he was the one the moment I talked to him.”
Payal, 32
“My husband and I met at a bar on December 4th and were engaged by February. Meeting him felt like lightning and being rescued from a deep, private loneliness at the same time. There’s a quote from Proust about how you knock on every door and then, magically, one opens. We’ve been married fifteen years and have two wonderful girls.”
Laura, 41
“I moved in with my now husband after our first date. We got ‘engaged’ after a few months. We got married the first time in Canada, where I’m from, a year and a half later and got married again in Austria this past January — an internationally recognized marriage, unlike the previous. We ended up on the ‘speedy route’ because long distance was a deal breaker for both of us.”
Lyanne, 26
“I got married after knowing my husband for eight months. We got married in the courthouse, not romantic. At first, it was a crazy disaster for this longtime single lady. But, it got (and is getting) better and better. Surprises were how broke my handsome and sweet immigrant husband was! I’ve learned just how tough it is for immigrants to thrive in the US.”
Lindsey, 39
“We were in the military and got stationed on opposite coasts. We wanted to be together so bad, we got engaged five months after meeting/two months after being separated. We’ve been married for seven years now, with a four-year-old daughter. It’s been wonderful.”
Hokti, 28
“I met my husband in February (on Match), told him I loved him five days later, and we were engaged in April. The wedding was just over eight months after our first date, in October. It was and is the best thing I’ve ever done. As a chronic second-guesser, this is the first time in my life I am unequivocally certain I made the right choice. I was in love with him before the end of our first date. He’s my favorite.”
Leigh, 33
“My husband and I started dating in June, got engaged on Christmas Eve, and were married in April. We have five children and will celebrate twenty-five years on our next anniversary! So I guess you can say it turned out well! It was a whirlwind and it hasn’t ever stopped. We have lots of fun together. At one of my wedding showers, women were sharing advice on marriage and the one piece that has stayed with me this whole time was from a woman who said, ‘We just like to make each other happy.’ At the time, that seemed like an easy enough thing to do. Even though I have realized that it is not as easy as it sounds, it has remained a goal and I still think it is sound advice. Ironically, this woman and her husband are our neighbors today.”
Holly, 47
“I was due to move back to Ireland, where I’m from, so my friends threw me a going away party. This is where I met my now-husband! It was so unexpected and overwhelming, but almost immediately, I knew he was the one. I moved back to Ireland and we continued to date long distance, both of us going back and forth. One year to the day, he came to Ireland and popped the question. We have now been married for six blissful years and have a beautiful baby boy. We live in New York.”
Sara, 35
“I dated my future husband for eleven months before getting engaged — we’re getting married in September. We knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together, but I did not know that my future in-laws were [so intense]. We got engaged before I met them and now with the wedding coming up, I’m consuming a lot of CBD oil. I wouldn’t trade it or him for the world!”
Kate, 26
“We would’ve gotten married sooner, but we listened to people telling us to ‘take it slow’ and ‘no need to rush.’ But then we realized that there are no rules. If you both are feeling it and you both want it, then it’s right. It probably helped that we both had been married and divorced before, so, we already had a good idea of what we did and did not want in a partner. Almost five years later, we have a daughter and are still going strong. Best decision ever.“
Alison, 35
Illustration by Madeline Montoya.
