COLUMNIST: Secret wedding was worth it

I secretly got married this week.
Anouchka Santella moved from Paris to Sheffield last year and loves the city but will be on Grandes Vacances when Tramlines is on.Anouchka Santella moved from Paris to Sheffield last year and loves the city but will be on Grandes Vacances when Tramlines is on.
Anouchka Santella moved from Paris to Sheffield last year and loves the city but will be on Grandes Vacances when Tramlines is on.

I never thought I’d want to get married.

I’ve always put it in a box with buying houses, dogs, and raising kids, and it was the last box I wanted to open. B

ut on the other hand I always liked full of surprises people who randomly get married and announce it two weeks after it’s been done.

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Not that I ever thought I’d meet someone I’d want to do that with.

Two years ago I thought single life was the best thing ever. I was happy, partying every night, had lots of friends, lots of stories to tell them after each party, my life felt like an episode of Gossip Girl, and as lame as it sounds I loved it.

I thought I wouldn’t settle down until I was in my late 30’s because being 30 and single now is totally acceptable and actually kind of the dream thanks to Sex and the City. I didn’t want a boyfriend, let alone a husband.

Now I’m on my honeymoon and I wouldn’t trade this for the world.

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It all started as a joke. The first time me and my boyfriend got together we joked about eloping in Scotland. It was both silly and impossible but we were very much into the idea.

Obviously it was still mostly a joke back then so I wasn’t really expecting us to go through with it. But on my birthday I got a marriage license.

We still wanted to keep the elope feeling and didn’t want a long boring wedding where we’d have to invite long lost cousins just for the sake of it.

I also didn’t want to put friends of mine from Paris in an uncomfortable situation where they wouldn’t be able to come or couldn’t afford it. And more importantly I definitely didn’t want to go down any aisle, to be given away from my dad to my boyfriend as if I was just something people own, and to have members of my family and friends tearing up and get all emotional.

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To avoid all of this, we decided to have it with only two witnesses, and to keep our mouths shut until after it was done. Turns out keeping such a big secret was a lot harder than we thought it’d be.

For some reason most of my friends have talked to me about feeling like they’re ready to commit recently, and the other ones seem to have gotten engaged in the past four months. And I was just sat here pretending I wasn’t really thinking about committing yet, while receiving emails from the town hall confirming the date of my wedding.

It was tricky but it was worth it. We got the wedding we wanted, which was far from long and boring.