How I Accidentally Got Married
Yes, you read that right.
So… I got married! On accident!
Straight out of a cheesy Hallmark movie or cliche romcom, Jarret and I accidentally became husband and wife.
‘How does this happen?’ one might ask. I STILL HAVE NO IDEA.
Chalk it up to me being absolutely shocking when it comes to details and paying attention and Jarret has no excuse because he’s usually the adult in our relationship.
And yes, for anyone asking, this is the guy I wrote How To Get Over Your Breakup In 5 Easy Outfits about.
But before I go into the part where we were married for a solid 15 seconds and had no idea, let me tell you a story.
Our Story
For anyone who hasn’t met him, this is Jarret (or as I affectionately call, bb).
Jarret and I’s lives seemed to run parallel but never truly intersect.
We were born at the same hospital a month apart.
We went to the same high school and had a class together.
We went to the same community college and university.
Rode the Max bus at the same stops. Used the same rec center. Have countless mutual friends.
My uncle and his dad met a few years ago and became bros.
We even went to the same wedding but for different people.
And, in all that time, our paths never truly crossed.
Until Jarret came across this photo.
He’d been on a dating app for a couple days before coming across my friend’s account and seeing this photo.
He recognized me and remembered me from high school and thought I was cute and wished it was my account instead. He then googled me (only creepy if I didn’t date him) and ended up finding this very blog.
My tiny, little, 8-followers-that-are-pretty-much-my-immediate-family blog somehow got me a husband. Yeah, I still can’t believe it either.
So after reading through this powerhouse of a blog, he realized that not only am I cute, but I clearly have the world’s coolest personality. This encouraged him to reach out - admittedly through a friend, to say, “hey I have this friend who remembers you from high school! Can I give you his number?”.
Now, normally I would ignore messages like this but for some unknown reason, I threw caution to the wind and said “sure, why not?”. Then I texted him first! - again, something I never do.
Next thing I knew, we’d made a smoothie date (he thought it was a date, I didn’t think it was) and we met up at Tropical Smoothie Cafe. I remember telling my mom and friend, Dani: “I’ll be back in 2 hours” and EIGHT (8) hours later I come home from what becomes the beginning of the rest of my life.
Our very first photo together :)
This was July 4th, 2021, one day after meeting each other.
Look how cute and awkward we are on our first official date at the Science and Nature Museum!
The Accidental Marriage
Now to the juicy bits…
I turned 26 this year which means I am supposed to be an adult and have my own health insurance (I didn’t) and I was trying to get it through my workplace but it wasn’t working out very well. Always the provider, Jarret swooped in and offered to add me to his health insurance but to do that we needed a civil union. We were already in a committed relationship and had planned on getting married, we just had no official documentation. So we needed a civil union.
After making an appointment, on May 31, 2022 we drove down to the courthouse to file our application. We filled out some documents, chatted with each other, and after our lady said we were good to go, Jarret asked her if we come back here to make an appointment when we get married later down the road and there is dead. silence.
After a long pause, she goes “uhhhh……” and we' went “uhhhhh……” and she was like……. “uhh you are married - I- I just married you.” and when I tell you the panicked look she gave me and I gave her, it must have been comical.
Now it is absolutely not her fault because we literally had to put up our right hands and swear we knew what we were doing and it still happened. We had to fill out a document that said on the top in huge, bold letters: MARRIAGE LICENSE and we still didn’t connect the dots. Before I signed it, I even said “hey, that’s cute can I take a picture of that?” and she goes…. “sure but you’re gonna get it back.” and I remember thinking how odd that was.
Now we did say multiple times, “hey, we’re here for our civil union.” So I’d like to say we’re not fully culpable in this but that’s just not true. Jarret though, the absolute love of my life, didn’t miss a beat and told me to stop freaking out, it was fine, and we were planning on getting married later anyway.
Here’s Jarret saying, “stop taking pictures, this isn’t a big deal,” before we knew just how big of a deal it was.
We left a bit flabbergasted and, after I was done freaking out, very very happy.
I called my mom immediately after exiting the courthouse and thankfully, she thought it was absolutely hysterical (so did everyone in Jarret’s family too). I then sent out a text asking if my geographically spread out family would have time for a zoom call to which my sister asked, “are you engaged?”
“No,” I told her.
They all also thought it was hilarious and absolutely something I would do. (like the time I accidentally almost joined the marines on two separate occasions)
Overall, I’m so glad it happened even if not in the way I expected. Our lives and relationship are somewhat unconventional so it’s not out of the ordinary for our marriage to be that way too.
I already knew he was the one and neither of us regret it but man does it make a weird story to tell.
Here’s Jarret wearing his paint-stained shorts and shoes that he wears for renovations and my hair was a mess and I’m wearing zero makeup but hey at least I’m wearing a white leather jacket. These are our official wedding photos now and I love them. They make me laugh every time I look at them.
What’s Next?
So what’s next, you ask?
Well, I want the whole experience so we’re not skipping any steps. We’ll be getting engaged in September while we’re in South Africa and married sometime next August.
Yes I already have like 80% of the wedding planned and yes I already have a venue picked out and yes I already have a dress! I was lucky enough to find one while in Seattle. So when this photo was posted on Instagram, I started getting messages from those I hadn’t told in person yet wondering if they’d missed the proposal. I explained as best I could but as time went on, I figured it was time to tell the full story.
I had no idea that when I wrote Turning 25 and said:
“I’ve always had a little bit of a complex about age and 25 somehow feels like a huge turning point in my life. Will it really be? I suppose that’s up to me. ”
Little did I know, how true this statement would be. I had never had a boyfriend, relationship, anything really until he came along. I didn’t want one.
But the moment I met Jarret, my first thought was, “dang, he’s cute” and I guess that’s all it took. One year, a breakup, and an accidental marriage later, we've never been happier.
I hope you enjoyed reading about our story as much as we’ve enjoyed living it. Most people think it’s funny so I hope you do too. To follow along with me as I plan a wedding, wear awesome outfits, and post about travel, please subscribe!
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