What exactly was Belly & Jere’s reasoning for not waiting a year to get married?
If they stopped to think about it for longer than a second it definitely makes the most sense. It’s not abnormal to have a year long engagement (especially that young). Jere could have finished college and gotten a job. Belly still could have done her study abroad (which would have made Laurel happy) and also graduated and got a job/into grad school. In general, Laurel would have probably been more supportive. And let’s be honest, they also had JUST gotten back together after finding out he “cheated” (whatever your thoughts are on whether it was actually cheating. I say it was). Probably a good idea to just hold off and make sure there aren’t any other red flags or unresolved feelings of resentment.
I can’t remember if it explained the reasoning in the book better. But in the show it really just seems like they want to get married so fast because everyone else didn’t want them to (which is very childish). They were too proud to admit they were rushing things.