Married couples: how long did you date before getting married?

[arivecchi]

Just wondering! :) Poll coming.

[edurnemk]

I voted 4, but it was a tad under 4. We met when I was 21 and DH 22, married at 25 and 26. We started talking seriously about marriage after 2 years of dating.

[momof2girls]

I voted 2 yrs. We got engaged after 10 months and then married a little over a yr later. My parents knew eachother for 3 months and have been married for41 yrs!

[LarsMal]

I voted 2 years, but it wasn't quite that long.

We got engaged 8 months after we started dating and were married a year after that- so 20 months, technically! I think we had our reception site booked about 5 months into our relationship. We had a very specific time we wanted to get married (after the bar exam, but before DH started working) so we had to get things reserved! We knew we were going to get married about 3 months after we started dating.

[YouAreTheFocus]

5.5 years from meeting to marrying. First 2 yrs were long distance. Then we had a long-ish engagement b/c my brother's wedding plans were in the works and I didn't want to steal any of his thunder.

[arivecchi]

I'm winning so far. Nine years!!! :eek:

[rlu]

I'm winning so far. Nine years!!! :eek:

Yep, but there's a few us not far behind. DH and I met in 88, started dating in 89 and married in 96. 14 years this month.

[sarahsthreads]

I voted 6, but it was actually 3 months shy of that. We met (and started dating) the first month or so of college, got engaged the summer after we graduated, he went off to grad school while I got a job, and we planned our wedding out far enough to give him enough time to finish his master's degree.

We were pretty much settled on getting married at some point by year two of dating, but we both wanted to finish school and be earning money first!

Sarah :)

[daisymommy]

From first date to wedding day = 9 months to the day :) What can I say, when you know, you know! We just celebrated our 15 year Anniversary last week!

[AnnieW625]

5/1/2 yrs; started dating in Sept., 1997, got married in Feb., 2003. We were long distance from Jan., 1998 to Dec., 1999, then again from Jan., 2001 to Nov., 2002. Just after our second anniversary we finally hit a mark where we had spent more time together than we had apart; we lived apart in different parts of the state for 40 months of our relationship before Nov., 2002.

[katydid1971]

I voted 2 yrs. We got engaged after 10 months and then married a little over a yr later. My parents knew eachother for 3 months and have been married for41 yrs!
:yeahthat: except we got engaged at 9 months and my parents knew each other for 6 months and have been married for 47 years :) FIL asked MIL to marry him on their 3rd date (no lie) she accepted about a month later, they have been married 40 years in Dec.

[scrooks]

We were friends for a year. Started dating in April 2004. Engaged November 2004. Married October 2005. Whew! :dizzy:Quick compared to others!

I was engaged previously and we dated for 7 years before we got engaged.

[codex57]

7 years, altho everyone basically considered us married years before that. We barely even recognize our wedding anniversary. The one when we first got together is more celebrated I think.

[Andi98989]

We started dating my senior year of high school (1998); got engaged 5 years later. Got married in a civil ceremony shortly thereafter b/c DH was sick and needed to get on my medical insurance. We didn't exchange rings and I didn't change my name; we also didn't really publicize it. We had our church wedding 14 months later. I have to look up our "first wedding" for paperwork; we celebrate our "second wedding." We've been married 6-7 years. :)

[WatchingThemGrow]

I'm winning so far. Nine years!!! :eek:
I have to be winning on the other end of the spectrum - 3 months! Oh wait, does that mean I'm losing??

[georgiegirl]

What is typical/normal really depends on how old you were when you met your future spouse. If you met when you were 18, a freshman in college, dating for 6 years before marriage is completely normal and expected. However, if you start dating at 34 and don't get married until 40, six years of dating seems INSANE...and everyone would wonder why it took so long. Once you are in your 30s, I think 1-3 years is typical.

I voted 4 years, but it a little over 3.5 of dating. We were both 26 when we met and 30 when we got married.

[mikeys_mom]

I voted 1 year or less, because we dated for 8 months before we got engaged and then we were engaged for 3.5 months before we got married.

However, we actually knew each other for 13 years before we got married. We met at age 16 in summer camp. We lived in 2 different cities, 5 hours apart but were involved in the same youth group so we saw each other a few times a year at weekend retreats in between the summers. We started dating the summer we were 18 and visited each other throughout the year, but neither of us was really ready for marriage so it sort of fizzled down to a good friendship by the next summer. We had a lot of common friends and my BFF ended up marrying his older brother, so we kept in touch through this group of friends.

We both ended up moving to NYC a few years later and reconnected there. The spark that we had at 18 was still there but we were now both ready for a more serious relationship. It didn't take long for us to realize that we wanted to get married.

[g-mama]

I voted three; dated for two years, engaged for almost one year.

[babychi]

Six years here...I had to make sure! ;)

[cvanbrunt]

Engaged nine months after meeting. Married 6 months later. It will be 15 years next month.

[elektra]

4 years. It seemed like a long time at the time.

[arivecchi]

I have to be winning on the other end of the spectrum - 3 months! Oh wait, does that mean I'm losing?? I actually think you won and I lost! :6: to my DH.

[boolady]

I screwed it up. I voted two, but it's three. I was thinking how long from dating to engagement. Oops.

[mommylamb]

We started talking about getting married about 3 months after we met, were engaged 6 months after meeting and married 14 months after meeting. We had to move quickly because DH is British and immigration issues impacted our decisions. He came to the US on a fiance visa, so we had 90 days to get married from the moment the plane touched down.

[calv]

Started dating July of 96. We had just purchased our first home in halloween of 99. DH popped the BIG ? in FEB of 2000. We were married in 2002.

Does 2 years seem like a long engagement? LOL. Worked for us at the time since we paid entirely for our own wedding.

[LMPC]

Three years here....with 1.5 of them being long distance. Wow -- that was a loooong time ago!

[wendibird22]

Just shy of 3yrs. Started seriously dating in Nov 2001. Got engaged in Oct 2003 and married in July 2004.

[Indianamom2]

Oh shoot...I picked the wrong one!

I voted a year or less, but that's not true. We were engaged after a bit less than a year, but we actually dated for almost 2 years before getting married.

We've been married for 10+ years now.

Forgot to add that all of it was long-distance dating...which stinks!

[elliput]

7 months. Short courtships run in my family. :ROTFLMAO:

ETA- that is seven months from 1st date to wedding date.

[Moneypenny]

It was about 5, but we moved in together after about 6 months so we considered the actual marriage ceremony more of a formality.

[Dream]

I'm winning so far. Nine years!!! :eek:

Sorry, Married on the 10th year

[SammyeGail]

I did what I thought (at the time ;)) when other people did it was insane, married after only knowing each other 6 months. Been married almost 13 years, last 2 have had rough patches but last 6 months have improved a ton!

[elizabethkott]

We dated for a year before getting engaged, and then had an engagement of a little over a year, so I voted for two years. :)

[♥ms.pacman♥]

DH & I got married 2.5 years after we met..but we had a looong (18 month) engagement because i wanted to finish graduate school before getting married. we ended up getting officially engaged 1 year after we started dating (but we both knew we wanted to get married ~4 months after we met). like PP said, when you know, you know. :)

[doberbrat]

I win so far as the longest -started dating in 1991 and were married in 2004. Long courtships are the rule in his family. and I wanted to be sure.

[baymom]

5 years. We were in undergrad when we met (started dating about a year after we met) and waited until we both finished grad school to get married. But, we both knew that we were "the one" for each other from very early in the relationship....like in three months. It just wasn't the right time in our lives to actually get married. We just celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary.

[crl]

Met in Sept. Got engaged in Dec. Got married in May. You would find this nearly impossible to believe if you knew me IRL. I'm really not the kind to act so hastily. DH, on the other hand, swears he knew we were getting married by the end of our first date. He did ask me what we were going to name our children on our fourth date. I told him I had no idea what he was going to name his children.

Oh, we've been married 14 years now so I guess it lasted despite several predictions to the contrary.

Catherine

[caleymama]

We dated for about 18 months before getting engaged, but there were 2 break-ups during the first year of dating, oh the drama of college. He had graduated the year before and the timing just wasn't right. We got things straightened out about halfway through my senior year and the rest is history. He proposed the week after I graduated from college and we were engaged for about 13 months. We were long distance for almost our whole engagement.

Just celebrated 10 years of marriage earlier this summer :)

[buttergirl12]

I met DH on May 31. Our first date was 5 days later. We got married on July 31. Yes, same year and I was in Europe for 2 weeks during those 2 month. Crazy, but we are still married 11 years (and a few rough patches) later.

[maestramommy]

20 months

[american_mama]

I assume you mean how long did you date your DH before getting married, not how long where you in the dating game in general?

[kdeunc]

We started dating in May 1999, got engaged July 2000, married March 2001 so just shy of 2 years. I met DH's grandmother about a month after we had been dating and she informed his mother that I was "the one". What can I say, Mimi knows a good thing when she sees it! :rotflmao:

[american_mama]

I voted 3 years, although DH had met through work and dated very briefly before that. Then we both changed jobs, he moved out of state, and I saw him only occasionally for a few years until I ended up in the same city as him and we started dating seriously.

[Twoboos]

I voted 3 years but it was more like 3.5. 2 years dating, 18mos engaged.

[chottumommy]

Never dated before getting engaged, dated for about 10 months after engagement since we were waiting for DH's sister to get married.

But I had known my DH for about 4 years before getting engaged. My sister never dated her DH till she got married, so I guess I was one step better.

[JElaineB]

There was no option for "less than 2 years", so I voted 2 years. It was actually 18 months. We were engaged after ~5 months of dating and married 13 months after that.

[Glizmo]

I voted 8 years, we dated through high school and college. We actually started talking marriage senior year of high school, but knew college had to come first. Graduated college in May, married in September, will be 8 years married pretty soon! :love2:

[arivecchi]

I assume you mean how long did you date your DH before getting married, not how long where you in the dating game in general?
Yep (dating your DH). :)

[cuca_]

There was no option for "less than 2 years", so I voted 2 years. It was actually 18 months.

:yeahthat:

Dated long distance for a year. DH moved to where I lived and proposed right away. We were engaged for 6 mos.

[lchang25000]

Got engaged in 15months and married 1 year later.

[hellokitty]

8 yrs. It was a running joke among friends that we'd never get married, b/c everyone else got married only knowing their spouse for less than two yrs. Basically, the reason it took so long was b/c DH and I wanted to make sure we both were finished with our college degrees before we got married. Needless to say, we have 4 BS degrees btwn the two of us.

[ourbabygirl]

Met in Feb., got engaged in Nov., got married in Aug. the following year (anniversary this Friday! :kisscheek:).
It was definitely quick by most peoples' standards (both my brothers dated their now wives for ~5 years or so before getting engaged), but like PP, we knew. I knew by about June of that year that I wanted to marry him, and he knew quickly, too. Of course, we were both out of college, working, and 24/ 25 when we dated & got married, so we'd both kissed a lot of frogs and knew what we wanted in a partner. :)
I fully expected to either marry my (senior year of) high school boyfriend, or someone I'd meet in college (out of state) or studying abroad, but I'm really glad things worked out how they did. My mom's glad, too, because I married someone from my state, so we don't have the grandparents & aunts & uncles more than an hour away.

[TwinFoxes]

I'm winning so far. Nine years!!! :eek:

Wow, that surprises me, but I don't know why. :)

Three years for us, engaged after two. We knew pretty early on though that we were each others' "one". :loveeyes:

[Fairy]

Exactlty four years to the day of our first date. So, no new anniversary to remember!

[niccig]

14 months. We met traveling and then traveled together for 3 months. Figured if we didn't fight when car got towed, and had to work out how to get it back when no one spoke English, that we were a good match. I know families and friends weren't sure when we got engaged 8 months after meeting, but we knew. Married 7 years now.

[PunkyBoo]

5 years dating, but were friends (and dated briefly for a couple of months) for 5 years before that.

[bigpassport]

Never dated before getting engaged, dated for about 10 months after engagement since we were waiting for DH's sister to get married.

But I had known my DH for about 4 years before getting engaged. My sister never dated her DH till she got married, so I guess I was one step better.

I'm intrigued! How do you not date before getting engaged? Inquiring minds (ok, just one mind...mine) want to know!

As for me, 7 months from first date to wedding day.

[TwinFoxes]

I'm intrigued! How do you not date before getting engaged? Inquiring minds (ok, just one mind...mine) want to know!

As for me, 7 months from first date to wedding day.

I'm guessing arranged marriage.

[swissair81]

I have to be winning on the other end of the spectrum - 3 months! Oh wait, does that mean I'm losing??

I beat you. I'm not going to say how much less though. We don't do arranged marriages, but we are introduced & we aren't supposed to spend too much time deciding.

[ilfaith]

Our first date was in November 1997. We got engaged July 1999 and were married in July 2000...so a little less than 3 years.

[gordo]

9 years - but we started dating at 16.

[arivecchi]

9 years - but we started dating at 16. We started dating when I was 22. :bag

[DietCokeLover]

July 4, 2002 - we met.
July 5, 2003 - we married.

One year and one day.

[chottumommy]

I'm guessing arranged marriage.

No, not really. We both knew each other for about 4 years and grew to like each other. We knew all the good and bad about each other and my mother suggested he would be a good match and out of the blew DH proposed. It was like an arranged marriage where we knew each other and if we had been brought up here, we might have dated before getting engaged.

[MamaSnoo]

We dated for almost 3 years before our wedding. We were engaged for 18 mos, though, due to our schedules and wanting to get married in the spring (There is somethin' bout the southland in the springtime.....:innocent:). DH really wanted a spring wedding (when God made him born a Yankee, He was teasing).

I think we knew that we would get married after about 3 months of dating, maybe even less.

[Melbel]

We started dating in May 1994 and were married in November 1996 after we both graduated from law school (about 2.5 years). We were friends before dating (sat next to each other in tax class - true romance). I have not regretted my choice of who to marry for even a minute.

[klwa]

Starting dating mid July of '96. Got engaged mid-April of '97. Got married mid-June of '99. We had to wait until one of us was all the way out of school. :) DH graduated with his MCS in May. I didn't finish my MS until the next May.

[ThreeofUs]

It's funny. I had long term-relationships before I met DH - 4 years was about the average - but I never EVER met anyone I thought I wanted to marry before him. In fact, I specifically did not want to marry my boyfriends.

I know that sounds really strange. But I had seen a lot of my (highly intelligent, beautiful, educated) friends "settle" and didn't want that for myself. I had decided that marriage wasn't for me, and I was pretty okay with that. After all, being solitary gives one a lot of freedom.

Then I met DH and immediately knew that, in fact, I did want to marry. He did, too, even though he had made the same decision about marriage himself.

It was kind of crazy. But it was unmistakable. So we gave ourselves a little bit of time (a year) to make sure we weren't mistaken, and then married asap knowing that we'd have things (pride, being used to making decisions alone, being "the boss", etc.) to work out.

I think we were both right.

[egoldber]

We knew right away. But we got "officially" engaged 6 months after we started dating and were married about 1.5 years after that. I wanted to finish my masters and he wanted to finish undergrad first.

[tmphilo]

I voted 2 years, but it was really a little less than that - about 20 months. DH was home for Christmas before going to Iraq. We got engaged December 29th and married December 31st. DH left the next morning. We had a big wedding about 1 1/2 years later when he got back.

[MacMacMoo]

We met in July 2003. We got engaged Dec 2005. We were planning on getting married July 2009, but ended up getting married Jan 2008 instead.

DH joined the Army in Aug 2005, so we only say eachother for school breaks after that point, unless he was deplyed then we didn't see each other for a long time.

[WolfpackMom]

Started dating Jan 2006
Engaged June 2006
Married October 2007

My parents also had a quick engagement, they got engaged at 3 months and have been married for 30 years. My dad proposed after 1 month and my mom told him he was crazy, but she said yes 2 months later when he proposed again. :)

[maiaann]

I've known DH since Kindergarten. :p

He is a year younger than me and was in my brother's class. Since he and my brother were great friends he was always at our house - grade school, middle school, and high school. I never had an interest in him (romantically) until his 1st year of college. He came back all grown up and handsome. ;) We got together one New Year's Eve, dated throughout college, and got married immediately after college graduation.

DD1 came along 10 mo. later. :love5:

We *technically* dated for 4 years, were engaged for about a year, and have been married since January 2001.