I think you should live with someone for a few years before you marry them. People change and grow. Some people are much better at holding out from showing their true colors for much longer. I call them 'the actors.' The crazy and enamored feelings are bound to wear off. If someone is putting the pressure on you to marry, dig your heels into the ground. Something's off there. Isn't marriage simply about deciding to spend the rest of your life with someone? Can you spend the rest of your life with someone by just, uh, spending the rest of your life with them? Sure can, there are no laws against it, no one's telling you that you will be an outcast if you decide to love someone and live with them for your whole life without a permission slip. Why the heck are there still marriage licenses anyway? A license for what? To make each other miserable, have kids that will grow up with 2 households to shuffle between? People are divorcing so quickly these days, that they've not only dissolved their own marriages, they've dissolved the whole institution of marriage. Does it really mean anything anymore? It's just an opportunity for lawyers to make $$$$ now. I'm sorry if I offended anyone. I'm sure there are people out there who married for the right reasons and respect the institution of marriage, but they are the exception.