Dating : Cohabitation Success?
Those that cohabitated before marriage, AND THINGS WORKED OUT, please share your story and any advice.
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Seems I can only find negative things about cohabitating and it makes me doubt my decisions. Give me faith.
I dont see how cohabitation before marriage could hurt. I cohabitated with my husband three or four years before we got married. I think it’s a great idea to do as you can really experience what your day to day life would be like. If there are concerns about day to day life you have an opportunity to address them and see if you can « just deal » with any problems or compromise. You also get a better understanding of what your partner is actually like. How does he/she manage stress, pay bills, clean the kitchen, etc. Sometimes people naively think it just fall into place after marriage and that just isn’t the case. But these tiny details become important in living your life with someone.
Personally I don’t think it’s ideal, but most westerners who get married cohabit first. My wife and I lived together for 5 years before marriage. It worked out pretty great.
You only find negatives?? It’s probably the best thing to do. You get to see what it’s like to live together before a giant commitment like marriage. You work out the relationship dynamics that change when you live together. And the person will stay if they actually want to be with you, instead of staying because marriage is a legal agreement. Every marriage in my family did it this way beside one-and that’s cause they met and were married within a year.