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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Waited so long for a proposal it's put me off marriage

240 replies

sunflower1201 · 19/04/2021 16:44

Been together nearly 7 years, dragged his feet all the way and I was even told I had 'put him off' by trying to talk about it so much. Even I've gone off the idea now, can't face the rejection any more. Has anyone else been in this situation and what did you do?

OP posts:
Twolostsoulsswimminginafishbow · 19/04/2021 20:49

Do you both work? It seems weird that after years living with his parents so long you haven’t both been saving to buy. Renting is no more of a commitment than you have now but you might get lumbered with a lease if he decides to leave.
DS and his partner have been together eight years (in their mid twenties) and lived with us for three years. They did so to save hard to buy a house. They are committed but I’ll be shocked if they get engaged until at least thirty because they are still so young. There are more ways to move forward than a proposal but he isn’t doing any of those either.

fantasmasgoria1 · 19/04/2021 20:50

My ex used to say he was never getting married but after 7 years he asked me.

Crosstrainer · 19/04/2021 20:52

Google the sunken costs fallacy. Just because you've been with him 7 years, it doesn't mean you have to spend any more time trying to persuade this man to show you he loves you. A man who loves you will make damn sure you know it.

Very well put.

A friend of a friend was in a similar situation. Like you, she’d got to the point where she’d had enough of waiting for him to commit. She left. And, a few weeks later, she met someone else through work. Who fell head over heels for her, sent her flowers, asked her out and made it clear he was pretty besotted. A few weeks after that, the ex turned up on her doorstep. She sent him packing. He turned up again...this time with an engagement ring. But she’d really fallen for new work guy by this point and told the ex it was all too late. She then married new work guy about nine months later. They now have three kids and seem bloody happy.

PersonaNonGarter · 19/04/2021 20:57

Whether you marry him or not, you need to break this level of dependency on him and his family.

It sounds as though you have spent your twenties closing down options rather than making your own plans and building your experiences.

noodlezoodle · 19/04/2021 20:59

If you break up with him I think it will be a lucky escape.

Marriage is not the finish line, it's the starting line - say he changed his mind and you got married tomorrow, do you think you would then actually have the kind of life you want?

It sounds as though he is very passive and happy to drift along, and I don't see that marriage would change what is essentially part of his character. You may just end up with a lifetime of having to chivvy him into everything. (Or a lifetime of living with his parents, yikes).

MrsElijahMikaelson1 · 19/04/2021 21:00

Walk away

DungeonKeeper · 19/04/2021 21:07

Ladies who ended up ending their relationship, how did he react? Because when I have talked about ending the relationship in the past he has been genuinely upset. I have known him long enough to know that he was genuinely hurt and devastated at the thought which makes it more confusing. I don't feel like it was a fake reaction

But has anything changed? He gets upset but his words and reaction mean nothing if his actions don’t follow.

My bf was devastated when we split up (we lived together), it was awful but I felt relief! I knew it was the right thing. Don’t get me wrong I was so upset but I went on to live on my own, met new people, had some relationships and flings. Went travelling! Then I met DH and he is wonderful.

GreenClock · 19/04/2021 21:21

Take control OP. Imagine if he meets someone else and you’re still living in his parents’ house like a spare part. Hold your head high, move out, wish him well and get on with your life. There is someone out there who will want marriage and children with you, there really is.

HeadFullofRandom · 19/04/2021 21:42

@Accentor

Oh Jesus, OP, just listen to yourself.

He doesn't want to marry you. Saying 'pick a date' and being unenthusiastic is just another way of putting you off. If you do manage to drag him to the altar you'll never hear the end of it: he'll just ramp up his passive aggressive shit until you're both utterly miserable.

This ^ this was me!

He kept making excuses for his less than enthusiastic behaviour in the run up to the wedding and afterwards turned into a totally horrible person. I stuck it out for a year before I left, it was awful! It is totally passive aggressive behaviour.

Don't be me! If someone wants to marry you they will talk about it and be enthusiastic about it! It's so horrible realising this Flowers

LivBa · 19/04/2021 21:46

You should have left 4 years ago. Relationship wise, this point in time is the easiest it will ever be before the natural ups and downs of decades of marriage, the stress and life changes of kids etc. If he's not head over heels enthusiastic about marrying you now, what hope is there later down the line?!

Statistically people who marry after long term cohabitation are much more likely to divorce. There's a reason why he's decided he doesn't want to legally commit to you yet.

You deserve much better. Move out and stop letting him have all the benefits of marriage with none of the responsibilities. Find someone who's actually keen to marry you.

HeadFullofRandom · 19/04/2021 21:48

Oh and when I left he was "devastated" until he realised that the tears and promises of change act wasn't working any more and he turned really nasty, questioning my mental health, rewriting history and making everything my fault etc.

He made things very difficult in the separation, swung wildly between wanting to get back together and being really difficult and combative, he hid money and continued a campaign of lies about me to anyone who would listen. He had started lying about me to friends and family quite a while before we split I later found out.

AllFakeFurCoatAndNoSpanx · 19/04/2021 21:54

Oh I really feel for you OP!

I was with my ex fiance for 9 years. He proposed after 8 years together.

Around 4 years before we got engaged, I reached a point of certainty about him and also wanted to start a family (I was around 30.) I sat him down several times for a serious "look, I want these things and need to know if we are on the same page" chat, and every time he would run rings round me with a variety of excuses and delay tactics, everything from "I am absolutely going to ask you but I am old fashioned and want to do a proper proposal" to "well I had he proposal all planned but now you have ruined it" then his Dad sadly died and it became "my mother is all alone now I just can't do it to her, it would be too much for her to bear..."

I consider myself intelligent, driven, a feminist. I am not passive in my life but in this situation I felt completely powerless: I was so in love with him, certain of what I wanted, and left feeling humiliated and hurt every time he delayed, but he was also so convincing that he loved me, that I just had to be patient, that it really was important to him...and I waited.

When he finally did propose, it felt...flat. He'd dropped hints that my birthday present that year was a ring. Then my birthday came and went, and nothing. I was so fed up, started thinking about leaving. Not because I wanted a fancy wedding, but because I felt so rejected and deceived. Then he proposed the next day. I buried the now-obvious reality that he had realised he'd pushed it a bit too far and just didn't want to lose me.

He seemed excited about the wedding though, and even wanted to arrange a second wedding in his home country. But as the wedding got closer he became avoidant and depressed: he hadn't organised anything he'd insisted on taking responsibility for (the music, the food, his mother's flight...) and snapped at me whenever I talked about the wedding.

A month before the wedding, I sat him down and asked what was going on, did he have cold feet? In response he accused me of cheating on him out of the blue (I had not) and said we had to postpone the wedding until he could be sure he could trust me.

At that point I finally came to my senses and left him.

It is now over three years later and he still tells everyone I practically jilted him at the altar and broke his heart!

I am now with someone lovely who will openly discuss the future with me like a grown up.

I suppose I am sharing this to reassure you that it is so easy to get caught up in situations like these, and I completely understand. It's very easy from the outside to say "oh ffs just ask him don't be so wet" etc but men like this can be so manipulative, giving you just enough to string you along. And you can get lost in the fog of hurt and desperately not wanting to seem desperate.

It will hurt, but you really should get out. Even if he does finally propose, it will likely feel a bit hollow. As others have said, you deserve to be with someone who cannot wait to marry you and is excited at the prospect!

I really wish you all the best Flowers

sunflower1201 · 19/04/2021 21:58

Thank you everyone for your kind words and for sharing your personal experiences. It's definitely given me some food for thought and I really appreciate all the advice

OP posts:
LivBa · 19/04/2021 22:02

@Saoirse82

Some people just don't want to get married or its not top of their priorities, it doesn't mean they are any less committed. My 2 closest friends are in long term relationships with children, one of them her partner told her he didn't want to get married, she was happy to just be in a committed relationship and they now have 2 children & have been together 17 years. And the other was with her partner for 14 years when he proposed to her on Xmas day, she'd given up thinking he would, but she never doubted that he loved her.
@Saoirse82 Yes it does mean they're not committed. I mean come on! Why is it that they're happy to be involved in literally everything else to do with marriage (convenient sex, shared finances, living together, emotional support, even kids) EXCEPT for the actual legal commitment part of marriage which bestows responsibility on them.

They either don't want to commit at all since they want a back door open for a simpler, more convenient getaway that allows them to keep financial contributions to their girlfriend and kids minimal post break up, or they're hedging their bets to see if someone 'better' comes along, and if such a person doesn't materialise, they finally agree to getting married. It's just horrible.

Dery · 19/04/2021 22:51

“Whether you marry him or not, you need to break this level of dependency on him and his family.

It sounds as though you have spent your twenties closing down options rather than making your own plans and building your experiences.”

This with bells on.

coronaway · 19/04/2021 23:08

Sounds like he's just not that in to you. Sorry to put it so bluntly but sometimes that's needed.

DungeonKeeper · 19/04/2021 23:21

Even if he does propose I think there will then come the excuses as to why you can’t get married yet. It’s just another carrot.

Do his parents not want you both to move out?

Rangoon · 20/04/2021 01:06

He's really not your best friend. If he was he wouldnt keep you dangling and wasting your time. You'll either get married, have a baby and then get divorced or he'll never commit to you and marry somebody else quite quickly. There is nothing wrong with you and he doesn't deserve you.

You are still so young. These should be exciting years even with covid. You should be having fun and in love - not with some man telling you to pick a date after years of waiting for a proposal. I remember walking up the aisle and seeing my husband look round with an enormous grin on his face. This was the man who agreed to a religious service in my faith who'd have been happy with a registry office. This was after a relationship with a man who wouldn't commit. There was nothing wrong with me either.

AmberItsACertainty · 20/04/2021 01:09

@sunflower1201

We're late 20's, no kids. I sometimes think I'm being unreasonable, that we have no real reason to rush but at the same time after 7 years it's not exactly rushing
Ditch him now while there's still time to meet someone else and have children.
BlueDahlia69 · 20/04/2021 02:30

I agree ... you're running out of time 🌸

youvegottenminuteslynn · 20/04/2021 02:49

@BlueDahlia69

I agree ... you're running out of time 🌸
Shit, I'm 34 so I'm screwed!!
timeisnotaline · 20/04/2021 03:24

I think you should start looking at share houses. He isn’t helping your self esteem and you can’t drag him into being an active partner who wants to live with you, not with you and his parents and who wants to marry you.

timeisnotaline · 20/04/2021 03:25

And upset at you talking about leaving is still just words isn’t it? It’s not so upset I realised I want you in my life forever ie marriage, it’s not so upset let’s look at the cost of housing... it’s just ‘here’s my sad face now do what I want.’

Pyewackect · 20/04/2021 03:29

@Solasum

Honestly, I would leave. Do you really want to be with someone who has only married you because they felt they had to?
An awful lot of men do and the woman sees that as a result.
BlueDahlia69 · 20/04/2021 03:43

Shit, I'm 34 so I'm screwed!!

I couldn't say, because I know nothing about you.. OP on the other hand has explained all her current circumstances and situation.

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