When you love someone and they make you happy, you probably start thinking about the possibility of getting engaged and building a life together. However, you may wonder if you’re ready to do it, so here’s a list of 15 signs to determine if you’re ready to get engaged.
1. You’ve been together for at least a year.
It’s recommended that you are with the person you are thinking about getting engaged to for at least a year. This amount of time allows you to have ups and downs, know what you’re like with each other when you fight, how you resolve issues, learn a good amount of things from that person’s past, present, and what they’re thinking about for their future.
Of course this is just a suggestion, but every relationship is different and some might require more time if you don’t spend too much time together or if your relationship has been long distance, for example.
Whereas if your circumstances allowed you to spend lots of time together or maybe even move in with each other quickly, you might even be ready to get engaged sooner than that.
2. You’ve lived together for at least 6 months.
Knowing how you are with one another is important when you have to share the same space 24/7. You might think that living with that person will be easy and everything will go smoothly, but sometimes you discover they might not have the best or most organized habits.
Perhaps they’ll discover things they weren’t expecting about you as well. Living together is like a trial run before taking the leap to get engaged and married.
3. Your values align.
Sharing the same values is crucial for a relationship to work long term, especially if you want to build a life with this person and get engaged. It’s very difficult for a relationship to work out if you don’t share the same or similar values because you’re going to have a hard time growing together, and it’ll feel like you’re living different versions of your life since you don’t align on your values.
You may think one thing is okay, and they might think another thing is okay, which will eventually cause problems between the two of you. However, when you share similar values, if not the same ones, you can respect each other more easily and agree on more things.
4. You envision a future together.
Although this seems like the most important sign, it’s really not. Remember when you thought you were madly in love with someone and could envision a future with them, but other things in the relationship weren’t strong. This is why you must consider everything when you’re making your decision.
However, although it may not be the most important, it is a very important one. If things are good in all of the other aspects of your relationship, you must be able to envision a future with this person.
The thought of waking up next to them every morning, sharing a home, eating most of your meals together, and spending most of your free time with one another must sound appealing and like something you desire to share with this person.
5. You’ve met their family.
Meeting his family is important, especially if he’s close with them. You don’t need to meet his entire family, but you should meet the closest or most important people, such as his parents, siblings, grandparents, and other close family members they tend to spend time with or have over for the holidays.
It would be amazing if you got along with them and all liked each other, but that’s not always crucial when considering taking the next step in your relationship. At the end of the day, the people involved in the relationship are you and your significant other. Your family may be present at times, but you’re not going to be building a life with them.
6. You share long-term goals.
You both strive for similar accomplishments, like becoming homeowners, agreeing on whether or not you want to have children together, and what the timeline for that looks like. That part is very important, discussing the timeline for your goals as well as the goals themselves.
You could have very different timelines in mind for certain things that the other person might not agree with, and vice versa, so it’s important to discuss when you want certain things. It will also allow you to keep one another on track, even if the goals are personal and not something you are both striving for.
7. You receive unconditional care and support.
He’s good at communicating, or at least he tries to be. He always ensures you’re taken care of, shows you he loves you unconditionally and supports you as much as possible with whatever you need.
The man you choose to spend the rest of your life with should have these qualities and be very kind and caring. Not only because it affects you but because it reflects the way he treats other people in his life as well.
8. You have the approval of your and their family.
You don’t want to get engaged to someone that could bring problems to your family in the future, because that could result in a bigger problem that could lead to divorce, or both of you being excluded because your family doesn’t want anything to do with them.
Remember, this is in case your partner happens to be problematic, or if there are any big issues between them and your family, if it’s just a matter of them not getting along like you’d want them to, but there’s no real reason behind it, then that shouldn’t stop you from taking the next steps in your relationship.
9. You trust each other completely.
If you trust him, you can definitely start thinking about the possibility of getting engaged to him. Without trust, your relationship won’t last, or it won’t be healthy. It’s also important that he trusts you too. There needs to be trust between the both of you to share a life together.
10. You have good communication.
You know how to talk to each other, you make sure to keep each other aware of what’s going on, and you can continue to communicate even throughout a fight or argument. All of those things indicate that you are ready to get engaged. Good communication is a must before you decide to spend the rest of your life with someone.
11. You embrace the idea of marriage.
Commitment, and the idea of getting married can seem daunting to some. In theory, that’s the one person you’ll be spending the rest of your life with, and that can be a difficult idea to fully grasp when you really think about it. However, when you’re ready to get engaged, you won’t doubt that that’s who you want to share your life with and grow old with, and marriage won’t feel scary.
12. You’ve experienced rough moments in the relationship.
You never know how someone will react when they’re going through a hard time, or when something terrible has happened. This is why it’s important to have lived not only good experiences together but also harder ones.
13. You’ve talked about marriage before.
You’ve touched the subject, even if it was only lightly, and you’ve asked each other questions about what marriage means to each of you, if they can imagine that happening with you, and if marriage is even important to them. This can be a difficult conversation to have, and timing is important, so no one gets nervous or scared off. Try not to have the conversation too early on in the relationship.
14. You celebrate holidays together.
When you’re already celebrating most holidays together like a family, that’s when you know you’re ready to get engaged. You consider yourselves a family, so you celebrate like one.
15. You can’t wait to change your last name.
If you’re envisioning your name changing to have his last name, this is a major sign you’re thinking about getting engaged to him and fantasizing about all of the exciting things that come with the engagement, like changing your last name to his. It may seem simple, but it’s something to consider when determining if you’re ready to get engaged and gauge your excitement for it.
To wrap it up, getting engaged is a big step in your relationship, and you want to ensure you’re ready to do it. You don’t have to notice all of the signs mentioned above, but you should be able to observe at least half of them before taking the leap and committing to each other by getting engaged.
About the Author
