You're not a cow! I'm appalled!
But, truth be told, leveling with real life friends is the best way to go. You don't have to bicker about timezone differences, and you can call them up to get their arse online (not that Turus has ever resorted to that trick when I'm being a bugger and not logging on for any length of time). There's a lot of folks in the 'goons who live within about 15-30 miles of each other, so... I can certainly say that's a great way to play WoW.
Oh, and grats on the engagement! It's about bleedin' time!