Important Considerations Before You Get Engaged
Getting engaged is a significant step toward strengthening your relationship with your partner and will forever change your life. It’s not always an easy decision, and there’s a lot you should think through before you say yes and commit to forever with your significant other.
There are a few important considerations to think about before getting engaged to give yourself a better chance at happily ever after. Let these ideas inspire you to get thinking about the right types of issues and to figure out if the person you’re dating is truly right for you.
Future Career Goals
Each of your future career goals is one topic you’ll want to touch on before you get engaged. You want to be attracted to and supportive of what the other person is going after in their professional life. It may require you to move locations or give up on your dreams, so know what you’re getting into before you commit. It may determine where you live and how big of a home you can afford one day. Know what you both want to accomplish in life and evaluate how it may affect your relationship and marriage.
The Ring & Wedding
Another important consideration before you get engaged is what type of ring you’ll buy and the wedding itself. You'll have to decide whether you want a cozy wedding at home or a wedding away in an exotic country. You want to be on the same page about how much you will spend on jewelry and how big of a wedding you want. You might want to search for "destination wedding Mexico" or wherever you would like to hold your wedding, so you can get some rough ideas about how much it will cost.
You'll also need to know your ring size so you can start shopping for options. You can measure it with this online guide or by going to a jeweler to get officially measured to ensure you get the correct fit. Talk to each other about your budget and decide if you want to have a traditional wedding affair or prefer a destination wedding instead.
Spending Habits
Before you get engaged, it’s wise to discuss your spending habits and get on the same page about your finances. Financial issues and arguments can be taxing in a marriage, so it’s best to sort through any problems or differences before you get married. Talk about your future goals, like if you want to buy a house or car and what type of budget you may want to create for your family to follow. The last situation you want is to marry someone and find out they’re in more debt than you realized and have regrets later on.
If You Want Kids
Most importantly, you must talk about whether or not you want to have kids as a couple to know if you’re ready for marriage. It’s going to impact your life significantly, and if one of you isn’t on board, you should know about this before you tie the knot. Have tough conversations such as this before you get married, so you have the right expectations going into the marriage. Not only converse about if you want to have kids or not, but if you do, then get on the same page about how many kids you may want to have in the future.
