By the time you read this my friends, Clint and Tina Rebman, will be married. They’ll have walked down the aisle, securely fastened their ball and chain, and shoved cake in each other’s faces. I couldn’t be happier for them, but I can’t help but feel a bit disillusioned. At what point did my friends become grown-up enough for this marriage business?

Recently there has been an engagement epidemic in my circle of friends and acquaintances. It seems that the new “going steady,” at least in the townie crew, is being promised to your significant other forever and having an overpriced hunk of carbon on your finger. Rocket-launching yourself to the altar is apparently the new black.

But statistics show that, while I might be slightly panicked by this phenomenon, watching your friends get married is a normal part of life as a 20-something. According to the US Census Bureau the average marrying age in this country is 25, which means that a hefty number of people get married in their early 20s. It seems I am at the cusp of a decade full of weddings.

I must confess that weddings are my very favorite events. It’s fun to play even a small part in the best day of someone’s life — not to mention the free booze. I also have a somewhat sick obsession with the show Whose Wedding is it Anyway? on the Style Network, and record every episode on DVR. As much as I love weddings, it will be some time before I march down the aisle; I need to let this whole “adult” thing settle in before I do anything permanent. But good luck to Clint and Tina, and anyone else who got hitched this week.