Why do people choose to get married?

ariba10

A mate of mine said "It was to save having to walk home afterwards"

hazyjo

Love. Pure and simple.

And if you're having to ask why - you've not met the right person yet. You may still choose not to get married, but you'll get the reasoning behind it when you meet them.

Jx

mjdh1957

Because for hundreds of years up until now Society has deemed relationships like mine less worthwhile than those between partners of the opposite sex.

Marriage for me is a fundamental part of equal rights for all.

duchy

I've wondered what unmarried couples say to their kids when the kids come home from school and say "Ben's Mum and Dad are married- why aren't you and Daddy married?"

Kids tend to see things in black and white and I could see why they would ask- but I'm not sure most of the reasons people usually give would satisfy most kids.

Angry_Bear

duchy wrote: »

I think a far more interesting question is "Why do couples who have shared goals, love and respect for each other, believe their relationship is a lifelong commitment DON'T get married regardless of whether they have children or not?"

Because for some people, marriage doesn't matter. There are no religious reasons, and given divorce rates, it doesn't offer any more commitment than buying a house (for example).

And it's expensive - yes, yes, I know that "you can do it a registry office for a few hundred quid". But in reality, many families will accept not getting married more easily than having a 'no-event' wedding where they can't come along and have all the pomp.

I've been with my OH for 17 years and am completely committed to him. We may eventually decide to get married if it looks like there will be inheritance tax reasons (and it would be at a registry office, I wouldn't change my name, we almost certainly wouldn't wear rings and we probably wouldn't tell our families for the reason above), but it's not something that matters to either of us.

Marriage matters to some people, it doesn't to others.

catkins

Shock horror I got married and we didn't want children! Have been asked in the past what the point of getting married is if you don't want children.


For me and OH, we both believe very strongly in marriage, don't believe in divorce (if unhappy we would split up but not divorce) and wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. Getting married to us showed commitment for the rest of our lives. We had both lived with someone previously and decided we didn't want that again even for a short time - we wanted something different and special so did not live together at all before our wedding.

shiney85

Firstly, I want to get married because it's the ultimate commitment, and I love my OH very much. Even though I know my OH loves me too, I feel like marriage is the biggest sign someone is committed to you, and even though my parents have multiple divorces between them, I still believe marriage is for life. I can't wait to be married, but OH wants to save for a deposit on a house first, which I agree is the sensible thing to do, doesn't stop me dreaming though, my day will come!

Secondly, we both want a blooming great knees-up for our families, we have lots of ideas for our big day, it's going to take a lot of saving! xD

System

I got married because my husband wanted to marry me.... oh and the fact we were brilliant in bed had something to do with it.:D

Lily-Rose_3

duchy wrote: »

I think a far more interesting question is "Why do couples who have shared goals, love and respect for each other, believe their relationship is a lifelong commitment DON'T get married regardless of whether they have children or not?"

Brilliant. :T

What an odd question to ask 'why do people get married?' I was about to ask 'why do people NOT get married?' But you beat me to it?

Lily-Rose_3

Angry_Bear wrote: »

Because for some people, marriage doesn't matter. There are no religious reasons, and given divorce rates, it doesn't offer any more commitment than buying a house (for example).

And it's expensive - yes, yes, I know that "you can do it a registry office for a few hundred quid". But in reality, many families will accept not getting married more easily than having a 'no-event' wedding where they can't come along and have all the pomp.

I've been with my OH for 17 years and am completely committed to him. We may eventually decide to get married if it looks like there will be inheritance tax reasons (and it would be at a registry office, I wouldn't change my name, we almost certainly wouldn't wear rings and we probably wouldn't tell our families for the reason above), but it's not something that matters to either of us.

Marriage matters to some people, it doesn't to others.

Wow. What a depressing post. Particularly the bolded bit. Thank goodness not everyone thinks like this.

So marriage will only 'matter' to you if you're getting some financial gain from it. How romantic you sound.