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Conversations To Have Before You Get married

 There are many important conversations to have before you get married. You and your partner probably have a lot of things in common: friends, hobbies, interests, experiences, and values.

Professional matchmaker Julia McCurley of Something More suggests ten conversations that every couple should sure to have before you get married.

Money Talks

Regardless if you are married or not, money is often tied up with all kinds of emotional importance.  It can carry the weight of its association with everything from freedom, to security, to autonomy, to power and status. The more you have conversations and the more honest you are with yourselves and each other, the better foundation you build in your marriage.

We Are Family

This one is huge and should be taken seriously. Before you get married, you need to have conversations about whether you want to have children.  If you both do want kids, how many and how you will raise them? For instance, what will be your parenting style? This is definitely part of the conversations to have before you get married.

Minding the Home Front

So much goes into keeping a household running smoothly. There’s never-ending laundry and dishes to do, toilets to scrub, bills to pay, meals to cook, and groceries to buy. It’s a good idea, therefore, to talk about who will be doing what after you get married. For example; how do bill-paying responsibilities work, what’s the division of household chores, and what are your standards of cleanliness?

In-laws or Outlaws?

Everyone’s life is easier if you happen to love your in-laws (and vice versa). But no matter how you feel about your respective families, you will need to decide how you will incorporate them into your lives. How much time do you expect to spend with them once you’re married? What amount of time do you expect your spouse to spend with them? Also, how do you plan to give both sets of families fair time  during the major holidays?

Working Nine to Five

If you’re both working, there’s a chance that at some point, one person’s career might have to take a back seat so that the mate’s career might move forward. Talk about it in the early stages of your relationship to make sure there are no last-minute surprises. How committed are you to your career?  How willing are you to make sacrifices in your career for a better work/life balance?

Independence Day

There is a wide variance in how much time people need to themselves or with their friends. So, how well do your styles fit together? Big differences can be accommodated if there is respect and understanding. But if it’s never talked about, differences in expectations may lead to resentful feelings. Make sure to make this issue be part of conversations to have before you geet married.

Continuing your independent social lives may be important how will you make sure you have quality time together, too?

Here’s Your Hat, What’s Your Hurry?

Knowing how each other handles conflict and understanding how the two of you work together in these situations can help you avoid unmet expectations and allow you to handle tense situations in a much more effective way. This can seriously be marriage-saving stuff. So, how will you resolve conflict and how willing are you/your partner to examine recurring conflicts and make changes?

Dream On

The one person you should absolutely confide all of your incredible life goals in is your future spouse.  Conversations to have before you get married would be: where do you want to be on your 10th wedding anniversary? What do you want your life to be like? Where is your ideal place to live?

Let’s Get Busy

What’s the point of being a couple if you can’t talk openly about intimacy?

Being married will be a tough road if you and your partner aren’t compatible when it comes to physical needs and desires.

How does each of you like to show intimacy and caring, and what does each of you need to feel loved and cared for?

Out of Bounds

Essentially, boundaries are your views on what is okay and what is not okay when it comes to your relationship and marriage. Suggested conversations you should talk about before marriage are having friends of the opposite sex, spending time with extended family members and sharing alone time with people of the opposite sex at work.