To hit on a small point: I'm in a happy, committed, 10-year monogamous marriage. 6 months after proposal we were deep in the process of wedding planning, fighting with both our families (my wife's mother was very upset we weren't married in a church, my parents felt that I hadn't let all six of my aunts participate enough in the wedding planning), trying to plan a life together, and attempting to lock down various services we'd need before our wedding date.
Also the idea that the first year of marriage should be especially blissful is...suspect. There's an idea of a "Honeymoon period" but I'd be interested to see literature on how long it lasts and whether the end of the "Honeymoon period" is a return to baseline or actually a drop. No matter how much you love your partner, sharing a space with them for the first time (as many married people in the U.S. do) can be *extremely* trying. Navigating the transition from dating to married life is a new challenge, one that I'd expect to lead to a temporary drop in happiness. The bliss came after - once we'd figured out which things were important to us as individuals and which were important to us as a couple.
Dating Roundup #1: This Is Why You're Still Single
To hit on a small point: I'm in a happy, committed, 10-year monogamous marriage. 6 months after proposal we were deep in the process of wedding planning, fighting with both our families (my wife's mother was very upset we weren't married in a church, my parents felt that I hadn't let all six of my aunts participate enough in the wedding planning), trying to plan a life together, and attempting to lock down various services we'd need before our wedding date.
Also the idea that the first year of marriage should be especially blissful is...suspect. There's an idea of a "Honeymoon period" but I'd be interested to see literature on how long it lasts and whether the end of the "Honeymoon period" is a return to baseline or actually a drop. No matter how much you love your partner, sharing a space with them for the first time (as many married people in the U.S. do) can be *extremely* trying. Navigating the transition from dating to married life is a new challenge, one that I'd expect to lead to a temporary drop in happiness. The bliss came after - once we'd figured out which things were important to us as individuals and which were important to us as a couple.