With less than one week before the big day, Bristol Palin’s wedding to 2011 Medal of Honor recipient Dakota Meyer has been called off.
In a statement posted to Facebook on Monday, her mother, former vice-presidential candidate and Alaska governor Sarah Palin, wrote, “Bristol and Dakota couldn’t be more thankful for the love and support of family and friends over the past months while preparing for their wedding. They have informed loved ones that unfortunately the announced celebration planned for May 23 will not be held.”
Palin wrote that their family and friends would still gather in Kentucky that day to “share a great bar-b-que” and to “celebrate life, in general!”
The statement was accompanied by an image of an open plain, emblazoned with the words: “Trust in God’s timing. It’s better to wait a while and have things fall into place than to rush and have things fall apart.”
Bristol Palin posted the same image on her Instagram account Saturday. In a message posted to her mother’s Facebook, Bristol told supporters to disregard “false stories and dramatically written headlines begging controversy.”
“We have faith that our privacy will be respected at this time by those with decency,” her statement said.
Palin, 24, and Meyer, 26, got engaged just over two months ago at a Rascal Flatts concert in Las Vegas, Bristol Palin wrote on her blog.
“The lead singer, Gary LeVox, dedicated ‘Bless the Broken Road’ to us, and then Dakota got down on one knee and proposed!” she wrote. “It’s amazing to see what happens when you place everything in life in God’s hands.”
The couple shared news of their March 14 engagement on social media.
“I’m definitely the luckiest guy ever,” Meyer said in an Instagram of the pair tagged #shesaidyes.
Bristol Palin shared an Instagram picture of a ring and another of the happy couple smooching.
“Truly the luckiest girl in the world, cannot wait to marry this man!!!!” she said.
Meyer received the nation’s highest military honor for braving enemy fire in 2009 to recover 36 American and Afghan troops in Afghanistan. He was the third living recipient — and the first Marine — to be awarded the Medal of Honor for actions in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Bristol, the eldest daughter of Sarah Palin, has stayed in the public eye since her mother’s failed vice presidential bid through appearances on “Dancing with the Stars” and a Lifetime show about raising her son, “Bristol Palin: Life’s a Tripp.”
She also released a best-selling memoir in 2011, “Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far.” She was previously engaged to Tripp’s father, Levi Johnston.
The couple met last year when Meyer visited Alaska to film “Amazing America,” Sarah Palin’s show on Sportsman Channel, Bristol Palin said in her blog post.