i've been engaged to boyfriend for 18months, how do I tell my parents?

Do it in person. Mom, dad... As you know, John and I have been dating for a while, and we are very happy together. John proposed and we are engaged. I didn't tell you at first because I was afraid of your reaction, but now I feel like I can count on your support.

Good luck!

how funny that people don't think anything important about living together but the word MARRIAGE seems to change things. Just get married, what's the point of having a long engagement and freaking out about your parents accepting this or not if YOU ALREADY LIVE TOGETHER!!! I agree with pp if your siblings know then your parents probably do also. Besides you are an adult and you already went against your mothers wishes by continuing to see this man, why do you care how she feels now??? if she hasn't already disowned you for this it's highly doubtful she will now. GROW UP and just tell her.

Just tell them. If you are really afraid of telling them there could be something that's holding you back because you don't feel you are ready to be married or even to really want to marry him. I got engaged when i was 19 and didn't want to tell my parents either. They didn't real care for him much because we were on/off all the time and he cheated on me. He was a player before we even started dating and that never changed. We ended up breaking up and now i'm getting married this Saturday to someone else and I couldn't be happier. Maybe you should talk to your fiance about it and find out if this is truly what the both of you want.

You could just act as though you just got engaged. They don't actually need to know that you've been engaged for 18 months. Or you could tell them that he asked you 18 months ago, but you weren't teady yet, but now you are so you are going to start planning a wedding. I know you love you parents, but to be honest, it isn't fully their business as to when you got engaged and when you tell them. Its not like they can ground you for not telling them or something. Just explain to them that you didn't know how they would feel about it so you wanted to keep it to yourselves until you felt the time was right. There was no sense telling them if you weren't actually ready to get married right away. I told mine right away when I got engaged and they didn't even believe me until a few months later when I actually started planning the wedding. So really, in my opinion, you probably did a good thing not telling them yet. Best of luck to you and your fiance:)

You should never tell them. After all, you've essentially lied to them for 18 months already - why not lie to them right up until you are divorced? And yes, I say divorced because if you are still soooo afraid of what mommy and daddy think of your engagement that you have to sneak around, your marriage is going to be in serious trouble.

I realize that it's very difficult to disappoint your parents, but you seriously have to grow up and start making decisions for you, not for them. After all, it's your marriage, not theirs. If they can't accept him, then they can't accept you, and you'll have to decide who's more important.

If you have to lie to your parents about what you are doing in major life decisions, you are either not doing the right thing, or need to cut the apron strings.

Whatever you decide, I really do wish you nothing but success in your situation.

LOL!! You should have told 'em told them 18 months ago...jk

Be straight forward and honest. It will be hard but the longer you wait the harder it will get. Maybe just call her and tell her not that you're engaged but that you have been talking about getting married and what she thinks. Maybe that way it will be a little more subtle.

My fiance and I are going through the same thing not sure when to tell our families. But we decided to tell them in December. You and your fiance should just sit down and talk to your parents. If they don't approve they can either support you or not. But you will still have your fiance just do what you think is right.

Well, since you've already been living with him, I don't think your parents are going to care too much if you marry him or not. And if your siblings know, there's a good chance your parents know.

You should be open with your parents and just tell them. The longer you wait the harder it will be to tell them. If they get along with him now and see that he has changed, it shouldn't be a problem.

How about "Mom, David asked me to marry him." Don't say anything about when unless she asks. Then the answer is "It's been at least a few weeks -- I wanted to think it over before I told anyone."

This way you are not telling any lies.