Age ain't nothin' but a number

I'm 23 (as of Saturday!). Carter's 21. He'll be 22 by the wedding. We're "young." Based on my perusal of the wedding blogosphere, we're really young. Most brides, at least those outside of the South, are no younger than 25.

I'm also not the first of my "group" to get married. Out of my "girls" that I graduated from high school with, I'll be 3rd (and only because the 4th is having her ceremony at 4:30 and mine is at 3!). Most of my friends from college who graduated a year ahead of me are already married (one before she graduated, one right after, and two in August of this year). Out of my group of friends I graduated from college with, I will again be 3rd. And, as you know, Love (who will be the 4th in our college graduating class) is considered an Old Maid in her town!*

I don't think Carter & I are too young to be getting married (otherwise we wouldn't be). On the contrary, we've been dating for almost 5 years, much of which was spent long-distance. This gave us the opportunity to really get to know one another. We relied on conversation for 9 months out of the year for 4 years. There is nothing I want more than to be married to this man.

So you can understand my irritation and frustration when I get comments such as "But you're so young!" There have only been a few instances, but the kicker came from an acquaintance. She's a mother, and she's a grandmother. And her daughter, the mother of her grandchild, is unmarried and younger than I am (by at least 2 years!). The baby is probably 18 months to 2 years old by now. But clearly, I am not mature enough to make a decision as to whom I want to spend the rest of my life with. A child? Sure, go ahead, you're old enough for that. But marriage? You're too young...

Did you receive any less-than-enthusiastic responspes when you announced your engagement? What's the "right" age to get engaged? Married?

*There are many other people from my graduating classes, both high school and college who are already married or who will be by May 23rd. However, the ones I'm counting are just the ones I was/am good friends with.