To ask how many of you got engaged after 5+ years?

[StrawberriesAndVanilla]

Was chatting with a friend the other day about her upcoming wedding anniversary, and ended up talking about how her and her DH got engaged after just over 5 years of being together.

It got me wondering how common waiting 5 years (or more) is for an engagement?
I remember when I was a kid, I used to think couples become engaged, married, bought a house and had a kid on the way all within 5 years!

I see some old friends on my Facebook getting engaged within 18 months - 2 years of being with their partners, and question whether they're jumping the gun, or if 2 years is a more appropriate time to wait as opposed to 5?

I've been with DP coming up to 5 years this year, and we're blissfully happy, talk about a wedding and marriage on an almost weekly basis (not always instigated by me, I might add), but no sign of a proposal yet. I half feel like it's going to be happening soon, half wonder if it's ever going to happen!

So, how long did your DH's/DP's take to drop one on knee?

• down on one knee! That should've said!

We never really got engaged as such, we'd been together for five years and just went and got married.

8 years here. But bought a house together after 3 years, we've always been very solid. Just were not in a rush to get married.

We were together just over 5 years before getting engaged but could have waited longer. There was no rush really. We got engaged because it just felt like the right time suddenly, but waited 2.5 years to get married and another 4 years to have kids! Why rush the big stuff and get all the fun out the way in one go I say.

Dh and I were together for 12 years with a house and a baby before we got married.
We were never really engaged properly though.

We got engaged in 11 months. When you know, you know :)

Yes we met in 2005 and got engaged in 2011. Married in 2012

Me. But but I was only 16 when we met. I think I was 22 when we got engaged.

I also think it's such a big deal that it's sensible to have a serious conversation about getting engaged. You shouldn't be shocked by your boyfriend 'getting down on one knee'! It should be a proper, honest conversation and more of a plan than just a random surprise. (Of course the actual day or event can be a surprise if you like that kind of thing)

9 years before getting married. Had a bended knee proposal and bought a house and started a family after marriage.

Was with my DH for 8 years before we got engaged, got married 2 years later and are celebrating our 10 year anniversary next month but I think everyone is different. We wanted to live together before getting married and bought our first house before getting engaged.

Me- just over 5 years together. But we were young and cash-strapped in our early years so marriage was something we were happy to wait for. But I have friends who moved much quicker than that. Some have worked out, some not, I guess it depends.

Me and dp are coming up six years, got a house after 2 (found a dog and fell in love bought house to have said dog) dc1 due in July. We've discussed marriage, not engaged but planning to get married in the next 2/3 years. I would like him to propose but I'll probably wait forever for that as he doesn't do 'romantic' gestures.

Dh talked about getting married after 3 months proposed at 11 months. We were both late twenties and “knew” so why hang about. When dh wants something he gets on with it which is a good quality in a husband. Frankly I wouldn’t have hung around much beyond 2 years

Engaged 5 years after meeting, then two years until we got married

We were together for 10 years before he proposed. Had a house and 2 kids. I'm financially independent so wasn't that bothered about getting married. I did love my proposal though, it was totally unexpected.

Engaged after 11 years, 6 years ago, still not married, whatever works.

We got engaged after 10 months together (although we had known each other for 4 years before that) and then married 8 months later.

Met in September 2007 l,engaged at Christmas 2008 and didn’t actually get married for almost 10 years.

Me. I reckon it depends on life stage. If you meet at uni it'll take longer to reach the big milestones than if you meet in your thirties.

It definitely seems to depend on age/stage of life.

I met DH at 20, and we got engaged when I was 27. Other friends that met their partners between 16-25 got engaged after at least 5+ Years and more likely 10+.

Friends that met in their late 20s/early 30s have been much more likely to get engaged and married within that 2 year period.

I'm similar to you OP. We're mid-late 20s, mortgage but no kids, together 4.5 years. Looking to get engaged within a year or so, but we have no money for a wedding yet anyway (we don't want a big one - but even a registry office with a party afterwards costs money we don't have right now!) so I don't feel any huge rush.

Met 2000, married 2007 in July after deciding we wanted to marry in January that year. I don't think it matters when as long as it works for you. But we don't have children, so that might have made a difference.

We had been together 5 years when my partner started dropping hints about proposing. We then made the decision together to get married the following year so there was no getting down on one knee. At this point we had a mortgage and a business together so to be honest marriage didn’t seem like that big a commitment in comparison as untraditional as that sounds.

DH and I were together for about 5 years when I got pregnant (planned). We already had bought a house together too. We got married when DD was 18 months old. I suppose we were engaged for the year it took us to plan the wedding after we decided that we would like to get married.