The older the better IMO.
I started dating my husband when I was 18 and he was 19. We were immediately exclusive. We married when I was 23, big wedding, the whole shebang. Two kids and a long haul later, I have regrets. I went straight from home to being married.
I was totally in love..well, I thought I was. Looking back, I married for the wrong reasons and I was not mature enough to see it at the time, nor for many years later.
If I were single today and in love, I would marry. I'm not against marriage, I love marriage, and any marriage will have it's ups and downs. However, you best make sure you know who you are and who your betrothed is.
I have friends whose son married last month. He's 18 years old and so is his bride. All I can do is shake my head.
I also agree with David. Don't get married just because you think you're reaching an age where you *should* be married. When you meet the right person, you'll know. But you can't know if it's the right person until you've lived enough to know yourself.
JT,
Thanks for sharing this. It takes a lot to state what you have stated here.
In Psychology Today they have a new term in use called "Starter Marriage". It is predominately used for women as they enter into their first marriage not 100% satisfied and knowing they want to change in the future. They are doing it so that their parents do not think bad of them for living with a man. They are doing it so that they do not have be an "OLD MAID". They do it as they think it would be cheaper to be married and to split the costs while they save and look for the future.
I think this is bad when it has a name, and there are enough for the psychs to start collecting data.
That being said, many people have gotten married and staid married, but even more have gotten divorced. It is easy to get a divorce now. No Fault states make it 60 days for no kids if all is agreed too, and 6 months with kids if all is agreed too. So, if not hang ups then it is realtively easy to get one.
I know I was mature and was able to pay my bills and able to handle life aaround me as I had been living on my own for a while.
I was naive in the costs of living with someone, as I had never lived with a women before. (* Mom's don't count
*)
There should be no rush.
There should be no time frame. (* Friend had one woman pushing him to run away and alope, found out as they did not she broke it up ran off and got married to some new guy she just met. Her Visa had run out and she did not want to go back to the country of her birth. *)
There should be no must do's or pressure from other people.
It should be what both of you want not jsut what one of you want. If one person is totally afraid and agrees to not loose the other, it can be very bad. It can survive with lots of work as any marriage will require, but will people be willing to put in the work if they were the one not sure?