# Guys: How long did you date your girlfriend before marrying her? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 18, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222 "2011-08-18T21:19:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222/21 "2011-08-19T01:30:45Z")
First date: a Bastille Day party 1984. Engaged: 10 year anniversary of that day. Married: July 13th (couldn’t quite manage Bastille Day again) 1996. We’re pretty relaxed about whether we celebrate the 13th or 14th of July as our anniversary. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222/22 "2011-08-19T01:34:07Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Into the third trimester, or after delivery. Duh. Ugh, I think you may be right! I’m female but I’ll answer in a post anyway. 😛 8 years before we had the wedding. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222/23 "2011-08-19T01:35:28Z")
Not long enough, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222/24 "2011-08-19T01:43:23Z")
7 years and 2 kids. ETA: Met in 1994, started dating in 1995, moved in quickly, had first child in February of 2000, second in August of 2002, married two months after. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222/25 "2011-08-19T01:51:45Z")
The wife and I were an official couple for exactly two years, three weeks and two days before we were married. EDIT: I suppose that qualifies as “about two years,” but I ticked “more than two years.” ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222/26 "2011-08-19T01:54:09Z")
Exactly ten months of exclusive dating, followed by 41.2 years of marriage. So far. . ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222/27 "2011-08-19T03:38:23Z")
Yeah, odd choices. I was 5 years; my brother was 12. I think the median in my peer group would be about 2.5-3 years. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222/28 "2011-08-19T03:50:26Z")
Met in the late 90s, re-connected when we were in a wedding party together in summer of 2005, started dating immediately, were engaged by fall of 2006, married in summer 2007. So, just over a year of dating til we were engaged, and two years from first date to wedding. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222/29 "2011-08-19T04:26:24Z")
The wife and I never dated. It was a discrete adulterous office romance that culminated in her following me to a new job in an other province where we immediately shacked up. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222/30 "2011-08-19T12:15:33Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > The wife and I never dated. It was a discrete adulterous office romance that culminated in her following me to a new job in an other province where we immediately shacked up. That sounds kind of familiar. We were friends for eleven years and one day he moved in. We got married about two years later. “Date?” Yeah, we really never did that. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222/31 "2011-08-19T13:08:31Z")
First date aug 16. Wedding oct 8. This oct is 14 years. Two kids. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222/32 "2011-08-19T13:19:23Z")
31 months between first date and wedding. \<12 months from first date to engagement, \>19 months from engagement to wedding. We picked out the date over a year in advance, and one of my stepbrothers called up to wish us a happy -1st anniversary. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222/33 "2011-08-19T13:22:34Z")
5 years. Concurrently with another GF for 3 years. Plus others. Men are pigs. ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222/34 "2011-08-19T15:03:41Z")
First date in November 2002, engaged March 2006, married July 2007. We did have a ~5 month hiatus in 2004 but even if you exclude that period you get about 4 years of total dating time. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222/35 "2011-08-19T21:07:36Z")
My wife and I started going out in the Spring of 1995 and got married in October of 1999. So, why did it take 4+ years? Fear of commitment? No- almost 2 years into our relationship, I was ready to propose… but then her Mom got cancer, and that put everything on hold for quite a while. I finally proposed after her Mom was in remission. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222/36 "2011-08-19T21:36:55Z")
Well more than two. Would’ve been less than two, but more than one, excepting we saw a WestPac comming, and decided to wait until afterwards, so we would be able to deploy together. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222/37 "2011-08-19T21:43:02Z")
It’s tough to say. We dated for about eight months, then broke up and she married someone else, then got divorced and we got back together but lived with each other from early on in that situation (because she had a baby and we thought it’d be best if she didn’t work for a while), but it took us a little more than two years after that to get married. Does living together with a baby count as dating? It didn’t feel like it. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222/38 "2011-08-19T22:01:51Z")
Susie and I met and dated steady in high school. We dated in college and were engaged in our junior year undergraduate. I went to law school and she went to grad school. We married at Christmas break my first year of law school. For two years we lived on my paltry $110 per month as a library attendant and research assistant and her princely salary of $350 a month as a grad asst and non-tenured instructor. We will have been married 47 years this coming December and together for 52. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222/39 "2011-08-19T22:24:51Z")
Knew each other seven years, dated four years, married. Celebrated 25 years last June. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-how-long-did-you-date-your-girlfriend-before-marrying-her/593222.md?page=1)