For those that are married..
 

How long were you together before you got married?
My DH and I dated 4 months before we got engaged and married 10 months after we started dating. People found it so weird that we would get married so quick....but 10 years and we are still together. I often wonder about other marriages.

We were together for 7 1/2 years before we got married. But we started dating in high school.

DH and I were only dating a month and a half before he proposed, and we got married 8 months after that. We've been married for 8 years now.

However, we met when we were in middle school, and were friends for over 10 years before we started dating, so we didn't have a getting-to-know-you period when we started dating.

We were together 5 1/2 years before we got married. (We didn't get engaged.) But you have to take into account that I was only 17 when we started dating, so we still got married very young (22 for me, 25 for him).

DH and I have a bit of an odd situation..
He's in the Marine Corps, we marry young LOL

I met DH as a friend when I was 15, moved from Ohio to California with him when I was 17, graduated high school there, and we got married the day after my 18th birthday. We've been married almost 4 years.

I'm around so many military wives all the time it's so different when I realize that NORMAL people don't get married when they're still kids. *sigh* To be normal... :P

ETA: DH was 21 when we got married.

DH and I were engaged 7 months after we started dating and we were married 5 months after that. We actually got married 1 year and 1 week after we "re-met" at a friends wedding. I had known him years before and we had a lot of the same friends. We were 27 and 28 when we got married and we've been happily married almost 5 years.

Sometimes you just know. I think DH would have proposed sooner if he hadn't been finishing up graduate school.

We also didn't live in the same city until we were married, so phone and gas bills were high that year!

I dated my husband for 10 months before getting married. I really think marriage is a roll of the dice when it comes to who makes it and who doesn't. Whether you've dated for a long period of time or a much shorter period, it's really up to the couple to make it work. My husband was 30 and I was 24 when we got married. I think we were ready to marry at that time. It's been a wonderful adventure (not always good, but we worked it out) for the past 23 years!!!

Dh and I started dating July , 2001 and married Feb of 93. My parent were married 3 months before they married and had a terrific marriage until dad passed away a few years ago.

I think when you know, you know.

My first husband and I knew each other for nearly 15 years, lived together for 2 1/2, then got married when he was 30 and I was 27. It was a no-go, and I pretty much knew it while waltzing down the aisle.

My second husband and I met online accidentally, dated as best we could for 2 years given that he was in Australia and I was in the USA, spending a grand total of maybe 6 weeks in each others' actual company before tying the knot. It didn't matter. We knew immediately after we met face-to-face for the first time, and the rest was just the formality of the immigration process. That marriage would have gone on forever had it not been for his untimely death just over 2 years ago.

Grab life with both hands, no utensils -- you know when it's right, and you never know if it will last!!!

Rae

Dh and I dated for a year, during that time we talked about marriage but we knew we didn't have a chance financially. He was doing odd jobs while I was working for Burger King. We broke up but still kept in touch while we dated others.
Four years later he started going to my church and we became best friends, hanging out practically everyday. This went on for 6 months and it slowly became something more until one day he told me that we should just get married. We were both in the right place financially...so why not. We figured we would get married 2 months later. It was mid January, 2001 that we decided we should get married and we set our wedding day for March 3rd of that year. We drove out to Vegas with all our family and got married in a small chapel for $150.00. This coming March, we'll be married for 9 yrs.
I also get the weird comments when I tell people about our story but hey look at how long we've been together. Every year that passes we've become closer then the year before.

DH and I met while we were both in the process of divorce. We became friends/dated and helped each other get through the process. Both were pretty un-trusting of the opposite sex.
It took 22 months before we married and that was 33 years ago.

My hubby & I were together for 2 years before we got engaged, engaged for a year & March 8th will have been married for 2 years. So, 5 years together total. We lived together for 1 year before we were engaged.

I've always believed that you know when you know...I knew within 2 months that Noah would be the man I married...I was right! :)

I met DH at a dance when I was 18 and he was 22. He proposed a year and a half later and we made plans for a wedding but called it off when we found out his mom had cancer (she lived across the country from us). Time went on and after 4-1/2 years of dating, I was getting antsy and I think DH was perfectly ok with leaving things just as they were. One day I summoned up the courage to have "the talk". We were married 2 weeks later in a small but intimate ceremony with a small group of friends and family present. Even tho we had been dating for over 4 years and spent the last 2 with me staying at his place on weekends, we did alot of fighting those first few newlywed months as we learned to live with each other on a full time basis. Worked that out, we get along great and will be married 33 years in March.

Some people meet and quickly marry and it works out because they found the one they wanted to be with. Some people marry in haste and repent in leisure and I've known others who met when they were young, dated for 10 years or more and then either called it off before the wedding or didn't make it.

I'm not sure that I'd marry someone 2 weeks after I met them but I sincerely believe that one's chances of making a successful marriage depend on good, open communications, honesty, accepting each other for what you are and not trying to change too much about the other and most importantly realizing that as you travel life's road, you ARE going to change - your interests, your priorities and life does a good job of poking you in the back every once in a while. IF you can both be flexible, then you can make it. DH and I have had some good times and some bad ones but there's no other person I'd rather be with.

~Me and my hubby met When I was 15 he was 17 We got married when I was 17 & he was 19 ~Our 17th anniversary is Next Month ~February 25th 2010.
(Of course we are now 34 & 36 LOL)~

Originally Posted by happy2bme:
I'm not sure that I'd marry someone 2 weeks after I met them but I sincerely believe that one's chances of making a successful marriage depend on good, open communications, honesty, accepting each other for what you are and not trying to change too much about the other and most importantly realizing that as you travel life's road, you ARE going to change - your interests, your priorities and life does a good job of poking you in the back every once in a while. IF you can both be flexible, then you can make it. DH and I have had some good times and some bad ones but there's no other person I'd rather be with.

This is so well said.

We met in Jan 07 and Married Nov 07. We never had a lets get married conversation. We had a lot of conversations that people planing to get married have but we were just dating. Even at 43 I said I couldn't marry anyone that wasn't man enough to ask my dad to marry me. My parents lived 700 miles away. He had met my mom and she liked him almost immediately. I phoned my dad and told him we were coming so he could meet him. He wasn't interested in meeting anyone. They met got along great which was scary because my dad is very no nonsense. Well the day we were flying back home he called me into the kitchen and asked my dad for my hand in marriage. We (my dad and me) were both in shock. I had no idea he was going to do that. The odd thing was our first flight was canceled and we had come back to my parents house because it would be four hours before we were going to fly out. I guess he figured it was now or never. But here we are 2 years later and doing well. No one ever said "seems like you all are moving too fast." I guess it was because we seemed like we had been together for a long time.

Fully agree with "happy2bme," the only reason dh and I knew we were a good match was because we talked about everything...hopes, dreams, future. I would ask every guy I dated questions that meant everything to me, such as: "Do you want to have kids?" Do you see yourself moving out of state or living here for the rest of your life?" there were others just can't remember them all. When it came to religion, I only dated those that were serious and were in my church. The thing about moving out of state was very important to me because I wanted to move out of state and didn't want to be with someone that didn't want that.
I think its very important to talk about things and not leave it all up to chance. Dh and I would spend hours talking about everything. Even after being broken up and maturing after a few years, our desires might have changed but what's weird is that we still thought the same way. Even now, we agree pretty much 95% of things.
I have Dr. Laura to thank for all this. LOL

I'm actually not married yet (engaged - planning a wedding late this year or early next year). We are common-law. We dated for 7 years before we got engaged and 1 year later still not married (only just started planning!).

But I personally don't think there is a standard as to how long you should date someone before you get engaged, you will know if it is right when it is right. We waited for so long because there was really no reason for us to get married, we have been living together for 4 years now so getting married really wouldn't change anything for us - it would just cost us money! (Which we just don't have owning a house and such ...)

My sister and BIL were in the same boat as me, actually they dated for about 10 years before he proposed. They got married within 4 months of that and had a baby 5 months later.

Everyone is different.

We dated for over two years and married as soon as we finished college. ETA: We have been married 17 years and yep, there has been really good and pretty damned bad but there is no place on this earth and no one on this earth that is more desirable to me than where I currently am. I don't think getting engaged after 4 months is a big deal at all. I find it odd when people marry after one week or something. But those things work out all the time.

In fact, this brings me to another point. After giving it careful thought and much deliberation and conversation and studying I am thinking that arranged marriages (when it's mutually agreeable to spouses) are a good thing. In fact, the majority of marriages in the world are arranged. When marriages begin to go awry there are TWO WHOLE FAMILIES to help them through the dilemma rather than two poeple muddling through. That benefit is just for starters. Now, whether or not my girls will think it's a good idea is another story.

lets see - met the hubby in 0ctober 1999, we moved in by January 2000, I really do not remember when we got engaged, which is kinda sad lol. got married May 2002. And here we are today- we've been together over ten years, married going on 8. Times aren't always great, but we seem to be in it for the win. :kickbutt:

We got a lot of crap for moving too fast- especially moving in together so fast, but I was living w/ my parents and so was he and it was unbearable for us both and we got out as soon as we could. Besides, I came home after our first meeting and told my mom I was going to marry him.:val1:

I agree w/ Thighs in regards to arranged marriage. Coming into a marriage without passion and love ... can make things easier I think. I think about all the times I've been so furious with my husband, wanted to leave, etc and I think that I wouldn't have felt so strongly if we weren't in love. And now that we've been together longer - I see marriage more as a partnership then love, not that I don't love him, just that I now see it as more of having a family. I certainly didn't always love my parents or brother but we were a family and we stuck together. That's how I see marriage- a partner in life above all else.

My Hubby and I never actually dated. He would come by occasionally, we would talk, we would go for a drive, but we did it as friends. This lasted about two years. I had fallen in love by this time {as had he, I found out later, but we didnt' want to mess up the 'friendship' in case the other didn't feel the same.} He came by one night to tell me that he had joined the Navy, and would be leaving for bootcamp in about a month. I was surprised because he had mentioned joining because its a family thing, but never told me he was seriously considering it. He left, he was stationed near family, and I didn't hear from him for a while then he called me up one night and we talked, catching up. {I had been dating other people and he had been dating other people} A few days later he called, we talked and he ended the call with "I love you", but I thought it was a friend thing. A few days later he called again and told me he was going to try his hardest to convince me to marry him. I said 'yes' immediatly.

We've been married 13 years come May.

Hubby and I met in grade 8, started dating in grade 11. Got married two years after high school grad. That was almost 24 years ago, boy are we getting old ;)

We met in Jan. 1997 (12th grade) and started dating June '97. He asked me to marry him (sans ring) Aug '97 and made it "official" with a ring Jan '98.

I turned 20 April '99, we got married May '99 and he turned 21 June '99. We've been happily married almost 11 years :)

My hubby and I were together 3 years before we got married. We'll be married 9 year this coming Sept. :)

We started dating our senior year, and were together 9 months before he proposed. We married the following year when I was 19 and he was 20. We had been together for a year by then (was almost to the 2 year mark..we married in Dec. Started dating in Jan). We just celebrated our 5 year anniversary in December. And saturday marks 7 years since we've been together. I've known him since 8th grade.

We married exactly one year from the day we met....

we started living with each other one month after we were married....

celebrated #14 last week....

My husband and I were friends/coworkers for years. We started dating and within 3 months, I knew we'd be married some day. We made plans to move to the same state (he had moved away shortly before we started dating) and we both moved 2 months later. A year after we started dating, we got engaged and 4 months later, we got married.

My husband and I met 3 years before we got married. We started dating 10 months before we got married and got engaged 2 weeks before (even though we planned the wedding...the formatlity of asking just wasn't reached until 2 weeks before the date.) We're still in the newlywed stages at this point, it'll be a year of wedded bliss in april...but I wouldn't change a thing. We eloped, so we're still planning a big wedding for later this year...I'm still just as excited as the first one (I think that's a good sign).

We were engaged 11 months after meeting and married a year after that BUT We knew we wanted to marry each other and would have done it if not for formalities with in the first 3 months! We have been married for 1.5 years and very happy. They say the first 18 months are hard... I have loved them.

5 years. We started dating in HS and got married right after college (we were engaged for the last year and a half of college). We've been married for almost 7 years now.

Met in college. "Dated" for 8 years. Married now for 17.
Would I do it again?? Hmmmm.......

Dated for 7 years then got married in 2003. Going on 7 years of happy marriage. :carrot:

Married young
 

I met my Dh on a blind date when I turned 16... my bday actually we started officially dating a month later and a year and a half later he got down on one knee! we married 10 months after the proposal. have now been married 2 and a half years.:D

Started dating in December and married the following August. We have been married 10 years and I still love him so much.

Lets see, we met in January of 88 and were married in June of 88 and have been married for 21 years now...almost 22. My father in law used to joke and say he gave us 2 weeks, then it was two years, then 5 years etc etc....we tell him to this day that we are staying together just to prove him wrong lol

My husband and I have been friends since childhood. we started dating when we were 16 and we got married at 25. We've been married for a little over 3 years.

Well my brother dated his wife for 3 months, they got engaged, and got married 3 months later and they have been married now for almost 8 years.

I'm not married ..but have dated my boyfriend for almost 2 years and there are no plans to get married as of yet.

Originally Posted by northcarolina RN:
How long were you together before you got married?
My DH and I dated 4 months before we got engaged and married 10 months after we started dating. People found it so weird that we would get married so quick....but 10 years and we are still together. I often wonder about other marriages.

DH and I dated for 7 months before we got engaged and got married almost (but not quite) a year after we met. I had a lot of family members asking if I was pregnant or something, but nope. We had both been in long-term relationships before and I think that helped us get pretty good at figuring out what we needed/wanted in a relationship. And honestly, the long-term relationships I had been in (one was 2 years, the other was 4 years)...when I look back on those I can't help but wonder what I was thinking! I am so glad things ended with those guys. Anyway, we are coming up on our 6th wedding anniversary in May.

My sister and brother-in-law only dated for either 3 or 6 months before getting engaged, and they've been married for 17 years now.

And finally, I remember hearing on Dr. Phil once, years ago, that the length of the courtship does not predict the length of a marriage. :)

We dated for amost 3 years and have been married 6 years 3 months. We got married young so of course a lot of people were doubting us. I was barely 19 and he was 20 when we got married. And shortly after I found out I was pregnant so yay a lot of people thought we were to young. But oh well its awesome to prove people wrong

My husbad and I met through a mutual friend that actually wanted to date me! But after turning him down
A number of times he gave up. J and I dated for a month then he proposed,we got married 9 months after. And we are very happy. :)