Anonymous wrote:What is the purpose of marrying so young? I'm not a fan of monogamy and I waited until my early 30s to get married. No way could I have married the guy I was dating at 23. Most people mature a lot in their tastes and preferences in their 20s.

I am a fan of monogamy and older men. I'm the one that got married at 24 to a 30yo.

How old were you when you got married? 22
How old was your spouse? 23
How old are you now? 29
Are you still married? If not, how long were you married? Still married
Do you feel you were mature enough for marriage at that age? Yep. Had been out of school for a year, working full time, gone through pre-marital counseling, discussed things of importance...
Do you regret marrying at that age? No, not at all
What did your family think about it? They didn't really know my now-husband (they live in california, I met him in college here in DC. I think they'd met him once), so it was a bit frustrating to them, I think.

I love having been married so young. We got to do all the "firsts" together. First interviews, first jobs, first car purchases, first house, etc. We grew up together, learned from each other. We didn't have established habits to break like we would have if we were living apart for years before hand. I'm not really sure what I missed out on by marrying early...other than maybe having more money for our wedding!

How old were you when you got married? 27

How old was your spouse? 27

How old are you now? 46

Are you still married? Nope, starter marriage of 9 months. Divorced over his chronic drug use

Do you feel you were mature enough for marriage at that age? I wasn't, but I got mature very quickly after marrying him.

Do you regret marrying at that age? Actually, no. He ended up dying of a drug overdose and I ended up marrying a great guy when I was 31 and have been married for 13 years now.

Anonymous wrote:What is the purpose of marrying so young? I'm not a fan of monogamy and I waited until my early 30s to get married. No way could I have married the guy I was dating at 23. Most people mature a lot in their tastes and preferences in their 20s.

When it's the right person it's the right person. Your taste can change at any point, so maybe they're not the right person if that's a concern. I didn't want to solely focus on my career, and then end up being 40 and possibly needing expensive IVF. I knew my DH was the one after knowing him for 3 months. We got married 3 years later at 24. Still married, and still able to focus on my career and family.

Thank you all again for your responses. I always hear so much negativity about marrying young and that it won't work out, xyz. It's refreshing to see others who have made it, even though they married young and were pretty "inexperienced" in the game. I do understand that each relationship and each person is different, but it's nice to see that others have made it happen!

How old were you when you got married? 20

How old was your spouse? 23

How old are you now? 45

Are you still married? yes If not, how long were you married?

Do you feel you were mature enough for marriage at that age? probably not

Do you regret marrying at that age? Sometimes

What did your family think about it? They were not thrilled but supportive

Anonymous wrote:What is the purpose of marrying so young? I'm not a fan of monogamy and I waited until my early 30s to get married. No way could I have married the guy I was dating at 23. Most people mature a lot in their tastes and preferences in their 20s.

The purpose is the same as the purpose of any marriage: you fall in love and decide you want to spend the rest of your life together.

My spouse and I were 25. We are now almost 40. I never planned to get married so young, but that's when I met him and that's when it made sense for us. Thank goodness I didn't miss out on my husband because I wanted to wait for an arbitrary age limit!

Anonymous wrote:Did you get married in your lower 20s? If so:

How old were you when you got married?
How old was your spouse?
How old are you now?
Are you still married? If not, how long were you married?
Do you feel you were mature enough for marriage at that age?
Do you regret marrying at that age?
What did your family think about it?

23
23
46
No; we were married for 17 years
No, see above
Not really because we had a few years on our own before children, but still had children young-ish at 28 and 30. I am very glad to have had my children when I did as I still have a lot of working years in front of me and can really concentrate on my career, and many (I hope) retirement years to enjoy travel, grandchildren etc. That wouldn't have been possible with a later marriage.
I grew up around here and they didn't think anything of it. This might be generational. People in mid-40s and older would have had parents who married young as well. That is, my parents are not Baby Boomers, but older than that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the purpose of marrying so young? I'm not a fan of monogamy and I waited until my early 30s to get married. No way could I have married the guy I was dating at 23. Most people mature a lot in their tastes and preferences in their 20s.

Honestly, I didn't want to be a mom for the first time in my late 30's

DH again. We definitely loved each other, and we wanted to be married and start a family in a few years. What's the point of waiting?

I was 25, dh was 26. We were married 22 years. I felt mature enough. Both families were totally supportive.

We both really changed over the years. Mostly because our income went from 100K combined to well over 2M. I wouldn't have married him if I knew what I now know, but I don't think that being 5 years older would have changed anything either.

I know couples who were married very young 17 & 18 who are still married.

Sometimes life doesn't work out quite the way you expect that it should. But, sometimes you have to roll the dice to live a full life.

How old were you when you got married? 24
How old was your spouse? 26
How old are you now? 42
Are you still married? If not, how long were you married? Yes.
Do you feel you were mature enough for marriage at that age? Yes.
Do you regret marrying at that age? No.
What did your family think about it? I think they had some doubts about my husband but were nonetheless very supportive. Doubts assuaged now.

How old were you when you got married? I was 25
How old was your spouse? 26
How old are you now? 30
Are you still married? If not, how long were you married? Still married. Plan to be in it for the long haul.
Do you feel you were mature enough for marriage at that age? Absolutely. We'd already lived together for 6 years and had shared finances entirely for about 5 years. We had been dating for 10 years.
Do you regret marrying at that age? No, why would we?
What did your family think about it? They were happy for us. Why wouldn't they be?

How old were you when you got married? 24
How old was your spouse? 23
How old are you now? 37
Are you still married? If not, how long were you married? Yes, we have been married now for 12 years, together for 16
Do you feel you were mature enough for marriage at that age? Yes
Do you regret marrying at that age? No, but I understand now that I had a very simplistic and idealistic (ok, naive) view of love and marriage. It has been light years harder than either one of us imagined possible.
What did your family think about it? 100% supportive. We had been together 4 years, and we very clearly loved one another.

Anonymous wrote:What is the purpose of marrying so young? I'm not a fan of monogamy and I waited until my early 30s to get married. No way could I have married the guy I was dating at 23. Most people mature a lot in their tastes and preferences in their 20s.

Honestly, I didn't want to be a mom for the first time in my late 30's

What is the purpose of marrying so young? I'm not a fan of monogamy and I waited until my early 30s to get married. No way could I have married the guy I was dating at 23. Most people mature a lot in their tastes and preferences in their 20s.