6 Concrete Signs You And Your Partner Are (Finally) Ready For Marriage
Marriage is a big step in life. It requires patience, commitment, and love. For many couples, it’s because they genuinely want to spend the rest of their lives together and can’t imagine anyone else by their side.
So, how do you know if you’re ready for marriage? What makes a person truly ready for such a huge commitment?
Here are six signs you’re ready for marriage.
1. You make each other better
You are supportive, encouraging, and empathetic towards your partner. You feel happy when they succeed, and you encourage them to grow. You feel good about who they are and who they’re becoming. The relationship is a partnership; it is not only positive but strengthens both of you as individuals.
When one person is down or struggling in some way, the other lifts up the flagging spirit by being supportive, attentive, and loving. They give each other a sense of purpose in life that would otherwise be absent if each were alone. That’s real, unconditional love.
2. You’re both past the honeymoon stage
We all know that the beginning of a relationship is the honeymoon stage. You like them and they like you, so why not get married right now? And if you’re thinking this way, it’s okay – many people do.
The problem with getting married when you are in the honeymoon stage is that it’s very difficult to fully know someone during this period. The beginning of a relationship is magical because everything is new and exciting, but once that phase passes and the real work begins, things may start to change.
If your love has made it through a few years together and you have experienced some ups and downs already but are still going strong, there’s a good chance you’re ready for marriage.
If they have seen your flaws—experienced your worst side or vice versa—but loves you anyway, then you know they have likely accepted your imperfections and will continue to love you despite them.
This is important, because no matter how much we try to hide our true selves from our partner in fear of losing them someday when they discover who we really are, everyone will eventually see our true colors at some point in life – whether we want them to or not.
3. You’re both financially stable
In the past, marriage was a financial necessity. It was the only way to gain respectability, and it meant that both parties could pool their resources together.
But now that women can be financially independent, marriage is more about two people choosing to spend their lives together for love.
If you’re contemplating getting married, it’s essential first to make sure you and your partner are on solid financial footing. Financial problems are one of the biggest causes of divorce, so it’s crucial not just that you each have steady streams of income, it’s also crucial that you healthily manage your money.
If only one of you has a stable source of income, marriage may not be the right path for both of you yet.
4. You treat each other like best friends
You treat each other like best friends. You want to spend time together and confide in each other about things you don’t share with anyone else. You know each other’s secrets, and there are no surprises between the two of you regarding your pasts. Most of all, you feel comfortable being yourself around them.
If you’re dating someone and find that you have to put on an act around them or hide some part of your personality in order not to offend their sensibilities, think twice before marrying that person.
Marriage means sharing a life together, which means sharing everything about yourself—your good qualities and bad ones—with someone for the rest of your life. If they can’t accept who you are right now, they won’t be able to accept who will become later on as well.
5. You’re both close to each other’s families
If you’re ready to take the next step with your significant other, one sign that you could be ready for marriage is if you’re both close to each other’s families.
After all, family plays a huge role in a marriage. As time goes on and there are more holidays, birthdays, and special occasions to celebrate, it’s important that both of your families have met one another and get along well. And not just on special occasions, either—if your partner regularly spends time with their family or has siblings who live nearby, can you get along with them?
While at first it may seem tedious to spend time with people who aren’t in your immediate circle of friends, once you have kids and things become busier, it will be so much easier if they’ve already met each other.
6. You know it’s the next step
A key sign that you may be ready for marriage is being able to make a commitment to your partner. If you’re able to say “I do” and mean it, it’s likely because you’ve been together long enough to know that this is the right path for you.
Also, you and your partner should have discussed the future of your relationship together. While being in love with someone means wanting to be with them forever, marriage signifies taking that desire one step further by making a legal commitment to one another and vowing in front of family and friends that you will remain faithful, even when times get tough.
Even if you’ve been dating for a few years or less, if meeting their parents and spending holidays together already feels like second nature, then they could be “the one.”