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Today, it’s pretty common for a couple to be together and live together for a near decade—if not longer—before getting married. There isn’t the same sense of urgency to tie the knot that there used to be. I know that perhaps as recently as 20 years ago, if a couple dated for three years without getting engaged, people started to question their commitment to each other. There would be all this pressure around the man to propose—friends and family would drop hints that he needed to sh*t or get off the pot, as the lovely old saying goes. I’m so glad that timeline is no longer considered normal. I honestly believe that it takes around three years to really know someone—at least—and would be terrified to walk down the aisle towards a man I’d known for any less time than that. People say the honeymoon phase ends around year two, but I honestly think it goes into year three and a bit beyond (if you’re wondering whether or not you’re in it, there are signs). The point is, it’s perfectly acceptable and beneficial to wait a long time to get married. And when you do, the wedding will be a bit different. Here is how the weddings are different when you’ve been together for ten years.
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The guest list is more targeted
In your early twenties, if you get married, you may want to invite everyone. It seems like you have so many friends, and don’t want to leave any of them out. If you are with your man for over a decade, and get married in your late thirties or early forties, your guest list gets much shorter. You realize a lot of your friends from your twenties are no longer friends. It makes creating a guest list a lot easier.
