I dated my wife for about 6 years before we got married. I proposed after 5 years. If you ask her, she'll tell you she was ready for the ring after a year... I had some maturing to do and was still in my mid 20s at the time. I can't pinpoint why, but i'm glad I waited.
When it came time to make wedding plans, she developed a spreadsheet that quickly gave us perspective on how much our wedding would cost.
My wife is practical. We had the conversation of wedding vs. buying our first house... we decided to buy a house and have a small wedding at our house/park. I think we spent a total of $2500 on the wedding.
6 years later, we are still happy and in the same house with 2 kids. Lots of memories here, including the wedding, our first dog, kid 1, kid 2, etc.
There is never a right time for these life decisions... go with your gut and GL!
