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How long did you date your partner before he or she popped the question? It may have only been months, or perhaps it felt like an eternity. Here, nine couples reveal how long they waited and why.
Five months: “We were in love and wanted to start the rest of our lives together. We are both really happy with how fast everything happened. We got married less than six months later than our engagement. We are both in our 30s, and I think once you reach a certain age, you know what you want and you know what you need and when you find it, you hold on tight.” — Mara
Nine months: “I remember thinking at three months that I would totally marry him right now. But then we got to know each other even more, we got into some necessary arguments, and our love grew even stronger. I think it happened at the right time, though we would’ve loved to have been able to move in together right away instead of waiting a few months to buy a house together. This was both of our second marriages, so we knew what we wanted and did not want in a partner, no need to wait years. And as a wedding planner, I was able to plan our wedding in three-and-a-half months. It all just made sense for us.” — Amanda
11 months: “We dated long distance for 11 months before getting engaged. The thing that factored most was waiting for my head to catch up with my heart. We knew that we fit each other very well within the first two weeks of knowing each other. It took some time for my head that was saying, ‘this can never work — we don’t even live in the same country,’ to catch up with my heart that knew he was the one for me. I think the timing was perfect. Although, I was worried that other people would think it was too fast, especially because we were dating long distance — but ultimately, it doesn’t matter what other people think. When you know, you know.” — Jessica
Two years: “A lot of timing fell to my fiance once we decided we were going to get married. My fiance wanted time for it to feel special, be able to plan his proposal, and find a ring he thought fit my personality. We also waited to get engaged until after we moved in together and had tons of conversations about what our family’s life would look like afterwards including living, work, location, religion, traditions, and more. At the time, I wished it would have happened sooner. I know my fiance felt I was being a bit pushy, but I knew we were going to get married, so it felt unnecessary to wait any longer for an inevitability.” — Tara
See More: 9 Signs You’re Ready for Married Life
Three years: “We move every three months to a year for my partner’s career, and three years allowed us to really test out the waters to ensure this lifestyle was a good fit for both our relationship and our future together. If I were able to go back, I would not change the time frame. The three-year time span gave us enough experience with one another to really learn each other’s life dances. Meaning, three years of dating also allowed us to build a strong awareness of our expectations of one another, and how we view and interact with each other and the world.” — Jackie
Five years: “I couldn’t afford to save for a ring for nearly two years. I was ready to propose after three years. However, I lost my job around the time I wanted to propose and spent my free time finishing school. After graduating, it took me nearly a year-and-a-half to find another job. If I had to do it over again, I may have used a less expensive ring and extended the engagement.” — Kevin
10 years: “As the child of divorced parents, it was important to me that my fiance and I had our careers more or less established, had some financial security, and could give our children happy, healthy and financially secure homes. In retrospect, it is possible we were overly cautious in getting engaged in our pursuit of perfect timing. If I could go back I think we would probably have waited a shorter amount of time.” — Krystle
10 years: “We started dating in high school and continued through college, so there were always a lot of other things going on. Both of us valued our relationship, but wanted to accomplish other goals before making getting married a priority. Once we both graduated from college and got started in our careers, my husband proposed. I believe that you shouldn’t get engaged until you are truly serious about getting married. To me, you date to get to know each other and then you get engaged to plan your marriage.” — Meredith
11 years: “I had issues with [my now-wife] being older than me. The age thing really factored into my waiting forever. Looking back, this was foolish on my part. Sure, [my wife] is older than I am, but she is so deeply grounded and down to earth. If I could go back in time, I would tell myself to marry her after we took a wonderful vacation on Kauai when we were first dating. We were madly in love after Kauai, but I was scared. I wish I had been a smarter cat and married my girl earlier.” — Bob
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