My SO and I have been together for almost three years. I am going to be 25 and he will be 25 four months after me. I know he is the one, and I want to be married to him more than anything.
He says it's more of a when than an if for us to get married. Are guys just not as excited as we are about this sort of thing. Or is it because it's an expensive process (ring, wedding cost, honeymoon) that makes them groan.
My question is, how long were you together before you got married, and does it make a difference in your opinion?

Well we are going up to 10 years married in September but only togehter 1 1/2 years before we got married....
We just knew we were right togehter.. I don't think time is necessary a factor on when/if you are to get married...

We were young too I was 22 and he was 23 when we got married..

10 years and 4 kids later we are still going strong..

Eileen

my hubby and i met in 1993 and weren't married until june 1997. we were also engaged for over a year before we got married. about 2 months after we were married i got pregnant. ;) now we've been married right over 5 years and have 2 kids and 1 more on the way. (we really only planned the second baby) ;) good luck!! it will happen.......:bride: :cool:

Well, I dated my husband a year and a half before we were married. :) We met in high school and were immediatly crazy about each other. To be honest we probably would have married sooner but I wanted to graduate first. We were married the day after my graduation in June of 98, so its been a little over 4 years now. Alot of people I meet my age can't even imagine THINKING about being married at our CURRENT age, let alone be planning a 5th anniversay party. :D My husband and I just knew early we wanted a stable married life, and I am thankful everyday that goes by that we were married when we were.


But I think its important that both you and your husband-to-be are ready to be married, it can be a big change!

DH #1 I knew in high school and we dated and were engaged for 3 years and we got married when i was 20 and he was 21. Divorced 11mo. later

DH #2 I dated and engaged to 6years and we had a kid who was 3 when we got married 5 years ago.

So I think it is not a good idea to do things you THINK you have to do just do what YOU (and he) want to do. (But no evil things)


JMNTBHO

Kim

Thank you for all your thoughts and stories. It helps when you have other people to give you a reality check! Jay and I know we are right for each other, and that we are still young. I am not feeling like it's a "next step" move but more of a "you're the only one for me" move. You know the whole romantic aspect. Anyone else want to add their story??? I'd love to read it!! :D

DH and I dated 7 years before we got married. Met when I was 19 and he was 22--we were both in college. We were married in May 2001 in Costa Rica and it was well worth the wait!

I knew on the first date that he was the man I'd spend the rest of my life with. I even bet a friend of mine $50 that I'd marry him (we hadn't even kissed yet).

Right after we announced our engagement in Feb 2001, my friend gave me a check for $50!!! LOL :D

Dh and I were together for 5 years before we got married. We met when I was 16 and he was 23:eek: and got married when I was 21.
Now 12 years later we are very happy and working on having a baby.

You both definately have to be ready to take the big step so don't rush into it or try to push your SO into it. If it is meant to be he will ask you when he is ready.

DH and I dated for two years, got married when we were both 20, been married 18 years and have one dd.

Me and dh met in 1995 and were married September 2001...will be celebrating the 1 year aniversery next month... :)
We didn't really set a time to get married...my dh and I were both just taking it day by day......we lived together for about a year before...some people don't believe in that, but I think that is the best way to go....we had a beautiful wonderful wedding..but the only thing that changed was my last name....we are best friends and have a great time together....

My dh was real scared to get married....but over the years he got over that....I am glad that we didn't rush into anything...but I am equally glad that we are married now!!

My dh and I were together for only a few months we knew we were right for each other. we also had both been married before and knew we didn't want to go thru that again, now come Sept as well we will have our 21 anniversary

My DH and I met when I was 11 and he was 13. We dated on and off in high school. Got pregnant the last part of my junior year in high school and got married when DD was one and a half. We just celebrated our 4 year anniversary. Don't rush it!

I only dated DH 6 months before we were married. I was still in high and he was out. (Still graduated and went to college.) I found being married IS NOT an excuse not to finish your education! After 15 1/2 years of marriage and 3 boys later (14, 11 and 7) I would do it all again!! I love my DH and my children with all I have to give!!

Dh and I met and married in 6 WEEKS!!!! We will celebrating our 10th anniversary in November. It was love at first sight!!!! We were 24 and 32 and we now have 3 wonderful children.

I was with my ex husband a year and a half before we married... then divorced 5 years later.
My fiance and I have been together almost 5 years. We plan to get married... just hasn't been the right time yet I guess. :)

I met my hubby when we both were stationed in Groton Ct while serving in the Navy. We met on July 3, 1977, got engaged Sept 6, 1977, married November 26, 1977, We both were 18. No one said it would last. LOL We will be celebrating our 25th this Nov 26th.:)

DH and I met IN Mexico! We were on the same tour together and got separated form our tour group. We dated for a year and a half, lived together for a year and a half and got married December 18, 1981. I was 20, he was 21. We will celebrate #21 this December--25 of being together!

Dh and I met halfway through our Junior Year of high school. We went to the Junior Prom together and started dating. Then, that summer, I went on a work project with the youth group of my church to Tennessee and met a guy there. When I got home, I broke up with dh in order to have this ridiculous long-distance relationship with a guy I had known for a week. Dh has always been a kind, gentle, wonderful man who treats me like a princess, but I had VERY low self-esteem and wasn't ready to have someone treat me so well. Didn't realize I deserved it. Anyway, needless to say, the long-distance thing didn't work out. Dh and I had sorta remained aquaintances through mutual friends. I dated other guys over the next year, but the fall of our freshman year of college, I wanted him back. He was leery to go back out with me, considering I had broken up with him before, but he gave it a chance. Now, I went to school in Ohio and he went to school in NJ, so WE were now the long-distance relationship. It was tough, and by the end of December, we broke up again. We really didn't stay much in contact over the next four years, and I made some TERRIBLE choices in men, feeding my low self-esteem to the hilt. I wound up dating this guy for 2 1/2 years who treated me terribly, was abusive and alcoholic. So, of course, I moved in with him during college. Such a smart woman I was! Anyway, he got kicked out of school in the middle of our senior year, and this gave me the push I needed to break up with him. I spent the second half of my senior year living alone and working hard towards graduation. I really got to know myself and what I wanted out of life and out of a relationship. The summer before, dh and I had reconnected through mutual friends and had been keeping in touch on a friendly basis. When I graduated and got back to NJ, we started hanging out together, I realized that he was exactly what I wanted. No one had ever made me laugh as hard, smile as much, feel as good, or love so deeply as he had, and FINALLY, I was ready for him. Well, smart man that I married said, "Um...I don't think so. I'd have to be a fool to go out with you again, although I really have very strong feelings for you." So, I bided my time, and one day he said, "You know what? What have I got to lose? Either you break up with me again and I'm proven to be a fool, or this will turn into the rest of our lives and it will be wonderful!" So, we started dating AGAIN in 1994, got engaged in 1997, married in 1998, and had dd in 2001. I'm SO glad I finally figured out who I was, because being married to dh is the most wonderful feeling in the world.

Dh and I are highschool sweethearts. We dated for a year and a half, and then we got married because we couldn't stand not being married to each other. We didn't have a big wedding because we just wanted to get it over with and be together. We were young and still are. He was 20 and I was 19. We will be married 4 years at the end of this month. I love him more than he'll ever know. He makes me so happy. :hearts:

Wow Amy, obstacle after another you still wound up together!! I'm seeing Lot's of High School sweethearts and love at first sights. Just proves there's no ONE way to do it. Keep them coming.. Your stories are wonderful guys!!!
:read:

DH is my high school sweetheart, too. We met when I was 13 and he was 16. We started dating September 1982, just after he graduated high school. We dated for 5 years, and have been married for 14 1/2 years. We are best friends and love to laugh! DH has a great sense of humor, and I am his best audience. I laugh at everything he says! We have 3 beautiful daughters...life is good.

:) We dated 7 years before we got married. We lived together two of those years. I knew three weeks after I met Gregg that we would someday be married. We just had our 9 year anniversary on July 14th. When we got married we had NOTHING!! WE went to the court house and that was it. We didn't go on a honeymoon. I didn't even get a ring. I got blue topaz and diamond earrings. MY engagement ring is the diamonds from my mom's ring in a setting I picked out. My father told my mom it was to go to the first girl who got married. It makes no difference to me that I didn't have all tha fancy stuff. We are very happy together and I wouldnt change a thing.

We met at 17. We went out together for 5 years and married at 22 yrs. old. We have been married for 16 years.

For us getting to know each other very well before marrying did helps us. I want to add I am still discovering some special aspects of my dh that I still didn't know. Sometimes it can be wonderful, other times it can be new differences we need to accept from each other.

I'd love to say more but I'm tired and it's late. :)

We met at Dh's graduation from Basic Training. Had a drink at the Cafteteria with him and other friends. Never expected to see him again. I thought he was a nerd cause he liked to play pinball. lol

Dh and his friend got caught in a hail storm while riding a motorcycle. They stopped at my place and we fell in love. We were engaged within 2 weeks and in a few more weeks he was leaving for Germany. He stayed in Germany for 9 months untill he could save enough for my ring, and an apartment. He mailed my engagement ring to me for Christmas and sent me a dozen Red Roses. He flew home after the 9 months and we got married 2 days later on June 7, 1975. Three days after that we both flew to Germany to make our new home. He was 18. I was 19. We have been married 27 years now. We grew up together and have never regretted it. It helps if you don't believe in divorce and you work at any problems that come up, together.

Your hearts will tell you if it is the right time or not. ;)

Met my dh in Va Beach when I was a senoir in college and he was an ensign in the Navy. We dated for a year, and will celebrate our lucky 13th anniversary on Sept. 3rd

Dh and I knew each other for 3 years before we got married, we'll soon have our 17th anniversary.

Steve and I met when I was 15 and he was 16.We dated for almost ayear and I got pg.I walked down the isle 7 months pg and this past june we celebrated our 13th Anniversary :D

we started out with NOTHING but each other.He had no full time job and worked after school at a service station.He grad from highschool the week before we got married and the next week got a full time job.We lived with my parnets a month before we could afford to get our own place.It was a long hard road but one I would take again today :)

Dh and i met Feb 1997 i was almost 17 and he was 22 almost 23 in 4 mo.(dad had a cow)Anyways found out we were pregnant in may got married in july and had dd in jan of 98.THis past july we celebrated our 5th anniversary.We both knew after a month of being together that we were soul mates(i knew the first day we met) :)

Dh and I went to school together ever since 3rd grade. When he first came to my school I thought he was the biggest, loudest smart-aleck ever:eek:

Somehow by our junior yr he had grew on me. So we dated for 3yrs and have been married for 16yrs.

;) He's still loud and smart-alecky sometimes