“I do.” Three letters, two words and one lifetime of commitment.

“Will you marry me?” Fourteen letters, four words, two possible answers and sometimes twice as hard to say.

The legend of other universities is that women attend them to find bridesmaids. At Baker, however, women are said to find husbands.

Several Baker students have asked, “Will you marry me?” in a commitment to walk down the aisle and say, “I do.”

Senior Lindsey Sanders started dating her fiance, alumnus Ryan Smith, about a year and a half ago. Smith proposed to Sanders at the end of July. Their wedding is set for May.

Sanders, who will graduate in December, said growing up she never imagined she would get married while she was still in college. However, she said getting married in May was the best fit for her and Smith’s schedules.

“Before life got crazy, we wanted to be in the same place planning our wedding,” Sanders said.

Senior Renee Lindberg has been planning her wedding since the end of August, two weeks after her fiance, alumnus Ryan Creech, proposed. She said they intentionally waited until both were out of school to avoid the pressure of classes along with marriage.

“That way we could both be more stable in our lives,” Lindberg said.

Sanders and Lindberg each have similar amounts of time to plan their weddings and both said the plans are nearly complete.

Lindberg said she and Creech started planning about two weeks after his proposal. She thought it was important to be on the ball so they didn’t overwhelm themselves.

Sanders said planning the wedding has been pretty laid back. They started by searching for a venue the same day of Smith’s proposal and she said he has been helpful.

“Ryan and I have done a lot of things together and it wasn’t just me making decisions,” Sanders said.

Lindberg said her parents have chipped in on paying for the wedding, which she said will be fairly large between friends and family.

"Being in school and trying to plan a wedding at the same time is hard," Lindberg said.<br/>Junior Denver Little and his fiancee, senior Claire Norland, are waiting until July 2010, when both are out of school, to tie the knot. Junior Denver Little and his fiancee, senior Claire Norland, are waiting until July 2010, when both are out of school, to tie the knot.
Junior Denver Little and his fiancee, senior Claire Norland, are waiting until July 2010, when both are out of school, to tie the knot.

“Mostly because we would have enough time to save and plan,” Little said.

Freshman Adrienne Willems met her fiance in high school and will get married over the summer. She said they both knew they were ready and didn’t want to wait until they were done with school.

Both sets of parents agreed, and Willems said anyone who knows them believes they are responsible and ready for the commitment.

“They think it’s really cool and they’re all excited for us,” Willems said.

Willems said once married, they will probably live in housing reserved for married couples at the University of Kansas.

She said they have a lot of friends and family attending the wedding, but that it won’t be an overly extravagant affair.

“I’m definitely on a budget, so I’m not going to go all crazy,” Willems said.