young and married

This is a new feature for Fawn, in which we interview couples who married young! Our first couple are Maria of the blog Lulu Letty and her husband Cole. 

Who are you and what do you do? 

We are Maria and Cole. Maria is a blogger and Cole works in marketing.

How did you meet? 

We met freshman year in college through a mutual friend. We have many other weird-almost-meet ups that happened before that. Plus both of our aunts are acquaintances and almost hooked us up on a blind date before college. We ended up meeting on our own two months later.

How old were you when you got married and how long have you been together? 

Maria was 21, Cole was 22. We’ve been married for almost nine years and together for almost 12!

What were the reasons behind your decision to get married at a young age? 

Hmm, I think it came down to pure and simple love. We knew we were crazy, but we also knew that it felt right for us. Even though we were engaged after only a month of dating, we played it smart and waited three years before tying the knot.

Did you find a lot of negative stigma attached to getting married young? And if so, how did you deal with that? 

There were a lot of naysayers that tried to get in the way and a lot of close family and friends wanted to talk us out of it. Not to mention the pregnancy rumors. It wasn’t easy and it made everything much harder, but we followed our hearts and ignored the rest. 

Do you ever worry that being married young has made you miss out on opportunities? Or do you feel that it has presented more opportunities to you?

That’s a tricky question. We don’t feel like we’ve missed out on meeting and dating other people, but getting married young does bring with it a lot of responsibility. If one of you gets an excellent job opportunity in another city, the other has to go and be supportive even if that means putting their own career ambitions on the back-burner. That being said, we think it’s provided so many more opportunities because we’ve been there for each other helping one another achieve our goals.

Your late teens and early twenties are a time of such growth and change. How do you think having something permanent and stable in your life has made a difference?

It made all the difference. We sometimes look at our lives and are shocked by how much we’ve changed and grown together. It’s a constant joke that we’ve morphed into the same person. We couldn’t imagine being apart because it would literally mean erasing the (almost) 12 most important years of our lives. There were so many times that we hit rough patches in our lives and having a partner there to support you and help you get through it is such a blessing.

What were the first few years of your married life like? 

To be perfectly honest, they were hard. We were straight out of college and struggling to find jobs and make money. We moved around a lot and that made life tricky. But going through those first few rough years really made us a stronger, healthier couple. Marriage is never easy, there are always going to be struggles and hardships. Sticking together and working as a team makes all the difference.

And finally, what is the best thing about being married? 

Going to bed every night next to the person you love most in the world. There is nothing more wonderful.


Interview by Isabella McDermott
Images from Lulu Letty