Don't forget her name.

RUN!

Wait til you are at least 28.

divorce from the current one before!

Guys, let's be supportive for a while, not the usual group of psychotic backstabbers. In others words, let's lie.

Don't worry Sandgoose, she will definitely not say no.

Reject standard cultural norms, question everything, especially property-agreement type marriage; princess dreams of little girls; and the stress which comes from dealing with such dream fullfillment.

Stand in a room full of our friends/family and declare your love for each other, and then ask what legal/tax options make sense for you.

Such questioning can only make you more aware of what you are getting into; if your answer happens to decide to marry afterall.

In case you are a girl Sandgoose, move to Holland or California.

@SG - I got married at 23. I'm now 46 and February 10th marked the "half life" anniversary for me. So I can say with certainty that you can get married young, but you will have challenges ahead. I wish I had waited until I had gotten more of my "single life" desires done. *But* I'm glad I married the person I did. While she and I may not share all the same interests, we have foudn itnerests together that we enjoy and I still get to go play poker and work in the shop and build & fly R/C aircraft and go sailing (she enjoys that one with me) and Jeeping it off-road (another she enjoys with me) and smoking cigars & pipes and drinking scotch & bourbon and itnernational travel (another she enjoys) and I tolerate her hobbies and going camping with her (I'd rather stay in a cabin than a camper, thank you) as long as we are together.

So think about what is the one thing you would absolutely hate to do as a hobby and, if you can picture yourself being tolerant of doing it with her, then it has a chance to work.

Just do it and enjoy the moment!

Oh... and it may be worth having a plan b on the off chance she says no. Taking the hit with dignity and grace will leave her cursing herself for making the wrong choice in the way that pretending it was a joke and running off and crying in the bushes won't. Then the next time you ask she will be easy pickings ;).

Get her dads approval first. It sounds old fashioned I know, but it helps going forward. Then again, my fiancees dad is Sicilian so there's that

The simple one is "Whew! Dodged that bullet... OK, now I can give this thing back to the jeweler and use the cash on this sweet motorcycle I've been wanting!"

Celebrating 21 years Aug. 4. I wouldn't change her or wish for anyone different.

Gotcha by 2+ years there, The_Czech. :-) So I wonder who here has the longest single marriage still going on.

You could also hire a tramp to push her into the river so you could jump in and save her. A bit of a cliché, I know, but effective.

It tends to work best if you're a good swimmer, though...

Oh, and make sure the river's got enough water in it... Can get a bit messy if not.

By single I mean to the same person. No, been married 30 years to 4 different people" as that is just insanity (doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result).

Five months away from celebrating the silver anniversary. 1987-2012.

@draug, the difference between 18 and 23 is massive, especially in males, i'd definitely prefer to see people wait til tue 23-28 age gap rather than the 18-23 age gap. (again particularily males who mature, at least socialy, more slowly)

Not that my preference matters, my advice would be such...

Well, my wife turned 34 a couple months after we got married (I was 23 years and 10 days old), so that is a *real* difference. 10 years, 9 months, 17 days apart. But we weren't talking about age differences. We were talking about length of the marriage.

Congrats SG. Best wishes your plan goes smoothly and she says yes.

I was 25 when I got married, I can't compete with Draug and Czech though. It's only been 13 years.

My advice: Don't worry too much about it. Don't sit around planning it out forever. If she's the right one, she'll remember it forever even if you just casually say, "Will you marry me?" over a cup of coffee and produce a ring.

A few things,

I already have her parents permission as of 4 weeks ago, I bought the ring already 5 weeks ago, AND I have been planning this for weeks. This shit's going on youtube and you will all see me down on my knee...

It's going to be a very fun proposal. You won't get to see me put the ring on her, because it's a two part proposal...BUT you will be able to see me make an idiot of myself :P

Good luck - if it feels right, then it probably is. I got engaged @23, married @25, and,18 years later, still happily there.

Just remember, it takes work to make a marriage last, but talking about stuff, and a bit of give and take, and you've got a great start. Oh, and never go to bed angry.

The most important words for a young husband: "It's my fault, honey."

Be a man and take responsibility for the relationship, rather than leaving that up to the wife. "Are we good?" is another one. Read I Corinthians 13:
Love Is the Greatest
1 If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; [fn1] but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages [fn2] and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! 9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! 10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
11 When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12 Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. [fn3] All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/tools/printerFriendly.cfm?b=1Cr&c=13&t=NLTP&x=9&y=8
Finally, my best advice: When relationship issues become too much for you to deal with, learn to pray and ask God for help.

Send the youtube link after so we can watch and copllectively go awh

copllectively? Are they going to consumate their engagement on youtube while we collectively watch it later? copulate-collectively - hehehe

Mujus, my dad just read that for me yesterday. :P

I will def try to edit the video and upload it for sure :)

Good luck, Sandgoose! I hope you're very happy.

Don't think this means you get to take a day off focusing on the World Cup. ; )