You and your partner have just gotten engaged – congratulations! What was once a slog through the dating world is now a happy life settled down with your dream person.
Now, before you go any further (or start planning your dream wedding day), you’re going to need to sit down and go over a few things.
After all, it’s one thing to get married, but it’s another to actually be married. Being excited about the former does not mean you can just forget about the latter!
So do you and your partner’s future selves a favour right now and go through the checklist we’ve created down below. You need to be sure you agree on these areas (or at least, mostly agree), and that you’re happy to go forward as you’re both on the same page.
Do Your Ideal Futures Look Similar?
You’ve probably talked about this a lot throughout your relationship already, but it’s good to have a concrete idea of where the two of you stand right now.
But when you’re talking about the future, there’s a few things you want to focus on in particular.
Here’s a list of the questions you need to go over:
- Do you want kids?
- Do you want to get a pet?
- Where are you going to live?
- Do you want to buy a house? And if so, how soon?
- How are you going to pay for things?
- How will you save in the long term?
- What are you willing to spend on the wedding?
Do You Need a Prenup?
It’s not a rude thing to ask, no matter how in love you are with each other or how much you trust one another.
You can never be sure something won’t go wrong somewhere down the line, and it’s good to know you’re both protected against any financial issues if something does happen.
That’s all a prenup is really there to do: make it easier to split things fairly, according to what you’re bringing into the marriage and what you want each other to have if something breaks down along the way.
Is There Anything You Need to Tell Each Other?
When you love and trust the person you’re looking to spend your life with, you’ve probably been honest with them about every single thing under the sun.
However, you want to be sure you’ve told them everything they need to know, and vice versa. Now’s the time to clear the air and make sure you’ve been as honest as possible about all of the important things. Finances, past relationships, current values, etc.
Even if it’s something you’re ashamed of, and you’ve always thought never needed sharing up until now, think about whether or not it could have an impact on your relationship one day.
If you’re about to get married, you should know what you and your partner believe about your future together. And sometimes, you need to put some protections in place to make these things happen.
