A lot of people say that getting married early is a “bad idea,” as if it means you’re somehow “missing out.” More and more I’ve noticed a bias against people who get married early. People love to rush to judgement about two people who decide they’ve found “the one” at a young age and don’t care that they’re a little younger than average when they did it.
That’s actually a more recent development. In the past, it was normal for women to be wed before they were 20, or even earlier. However, the standards of society have shifted, and now it seems like anyone who gets married before 25 is considered abnormal or irrational and foolish.
The stereotype is that people who get married young are old fashioned, ignorant, and probably going to get divorced. And I don’t really think that’s okay, or fair.
In fact, I think there are a lot of great benefits to getting married young, and I think that couples who tie the knot when they’re younger aged get a bum rap for absolutely no reason.
Here are the top 10 reasons I think getting married young isn’t nearly as bad as it’s made out to be:
1. You grow up with each other
For most people who get married young, they’ve known that person most (or all) of their life. They know their history, their character, and the way they’ve responded to challenges.
They develop together, and grow from childhood into adulthood together, and are uniquely suited to taking on the obstacles that life throws at you, together.
2. You don’t have as much baggage
When you’re younger, you’re going to naturally have less baggage than when you’re older. Collecting baggage is just a given when it comes to going through life.
So for couples who get married young, they’re bringing a lot less baggage into the relationship. Less time spent single means less exes, means less baggage, means less stress in the relationship.
3. It’s easier to integrate yourselves with each other
When you get married young, you’re still deciding the person you want to be and how you want to live your life. Therefore, you don’t have a lot of deeply ingrained habits, attitudes, and patterns that you have to change and adjust to make room for each other.
Instead, your patterns and habits will grow out of the time you share with each other, rather than have to be changed for the other person. And the bond you form will only grow stronger.
4. You figure out the tough stuff early
When you get married early, you haven’t spent a decade or two looking forward to how “perfect” marriage is going to be when you get there. You still might have expectations, but they won’t have the weight of years of hope behind them.
That way, it’s easier to shoulder when life takes your expectations, spins them upside down, and smacks them into the sidewalk. You don’t have as much riding on them because you haven’t held them for nearly as long.
That makes it much easier to roll with life’s punches, and learn lessons about life, relationships, and marriage way earlier than most other people do.
5. Cheap weddings are expected
C’mon, you’re young. No one’s expecting you to throw a huge wedding bash, and you get to save all that money.
6. You’re not as likely to be let down
For a lot of people, marriage is the holy grail that they’ve been waiting for all their lives. It’s about “the one” coming into their lives and making everything perfect, and it’s smooth sailing and happily ever after from here on out.
When you get married young, sure you might be idealistic, but you haven’t been building it up in your head for decades as “the thing that’s going to make your life perfect.” You don’t even know what life has in store for you yet, so your expectations aren’t going to be nearly as high.
7. You get to share a lot more achievements
As you get older, most people get more financially secure and start building better lives for themselves. When you get married late, often times a lot of the hard work has already been done, and thus the rewards have already been experienced.
But when you get married early, you get to go through all that progress, accomplishment, and achievement together. You get to experience what it’s like to