My boyfriend and I have been dating for three years, and have been seriously considering marriage for a year now. We are certain this is what we want, and sooner rather than later. Becuase of this, we went ahead and purchased what will be my bridal ring set just a few days ago as we are hoping to become engaged sometime in the next few months. However, tonight I was having a conversation with my dad about the future. We were talking about my plans, my boyfriends plan for school, how this will be financed, etc. At one point, he made a statement along the lines of "well, I understand how you two feel about each other, but it sounds like he has a very clear cut path he needs to execute for a while before you two make anything official". This left a bit of an uneasy feeling, knowing that my boyfriend is hoping to ask him for my hand in marriage soon. I would hate to not receive his blessing, and I would not know what to do if this occurred. This is where I am looking for some advice. If my dad is unwilling to give his blessing, at what point would you personally feel it is appropriate to proceed with an engagement against his will? Now some background, because I understand life circumstances are important regarding major changes like this. My boyfriend is still in college, he has about 2 years left before his bachelors degree. **Please see continuation of question in comments**

Well after a lot of consideration and I think I decided that a courthouse wedding and a party later on would be best for us (my fiance said that we would do what I wanted, all he cared about was making me happy). Money is tight right now so I thought maybe I'd mail out invites down the road as a surprise to others who didn't know we got married about a reception. Anyone think that'd be ok? My parents are both deceased, his are still alive. I was thinking them and my 2 best friends at the courthouse with us. His sister and her wife didn't invite any family to their courthouse wedding in February and posted a lot of people off.