Whats the most common reason for a "long" engagement?

Question

also, how long is considered "long"?

Answer 1

my relationship has been 5 years already I have been engaged since May and am holding the wedding for the perfect date. 9/9/09!  We have waited this long why rush!

Answer 2

Saving money for the wedding

another reason is one or the other is not entirely sure/ready for the commitment, but they don't want to voice it, so they "extend" the engagement...

My engagement was 3 days long!

I would say a regular engagement is 1-2 years long. Anything over that is too long...

Answer 3

I would say anything longer than 2 years is "long". There are a bunch of reasons someone would have a long engagement...being too young, not enough money, not ready to completely commit, school...  

Answer 4

My fiance proposed to me last christmas 2007 and we are getting married April 2009! So we had a long engagement! Mostly because we wanted to be able to get us a house first (Which we have) And also to save money and to have a wedding that we both want.

Answer 5

The average engagement lasts between 6 months and a year and a half. Anything longer than that is considered "long" by most standards.

Money is usually the biggest reason. Weddings are expensive, and a lot of couples want to save up for a home as well. There's no sense starting out a new life together deep in debt!

Some other reasons might be that either the bride, groom, or both are still in school, or doing military service, and wishes to complete that before marriage.

Answer 6

I know some people have expressed that over a year is long - I needed to contact my church 1 year before the wedding (busy church so didn't want the standard 6 months). If you want a certain time of year then you're over a year almost automatically then.

Answer 7

wanting to be more comited, but not ready for marriage yet, education and on money can be in the way, as well as being too young

i think 1-2 years should be a minimum, anything less then that its pointless, the whole point of it is that you are being promised to marry 1 day, not runing through it as part of the planing process to a wedding

if you look to history its normal to see that bethrotals/engagements was made years before it was on the schedule to happen, it was a promise of family uniting one time in the future when it was viable for them to aford it and the kids was old enough to handle a marriage. It was not normal at all that they would know the date rigth up, this was something that took planing to do, as it took both time to save founds as well as arange these things, thinking about family coming from long off, as well saving up resources etc, the only times it happened quickly was if there was a child on the way, as such a short engagement period was suspicious and something that could make people frown.

But in todays fast fast community everything is to happen today or better yet yesterday, and people rush into things they arent ready for, there is a reason we got so high divorse rates afterall.

Well in US anyway, happily it has not rubbed off fully as well to europe as mcdonalds have, and more people stay engaged for several years.  I forsee once the vaction feel period pass I'll have some period of spining my head around how things are done in US before adapting to 'fit' in if thats even posible.

Answer 8

We just got engaged this past April.  And our date is set for May 16, 2009.  So I consider our engagement a "long"  one.  1 year long.  Our reason is to save up money and so I can be finished with college.  

Answer 9

Lack of funds, therefore saving up,

Planning the wedding,

School/college/university work,

Being too young.

I would say long is 2 years and over. I think very short is 6 months or under, short is anything under a year, average is 1 - 2 years, long is probably 2 - 3 year and very long is over 3. Thats my opinion :)

Answer 10

saving up money (1 to 2 years)

anything longer than that has another reason.

another is too young.

Answer 11

Long is pretty much considered anything over a year. Most of the time couples waite so they can have more time to plan, and to save up.

Answer 12

Money

Most take over a year to save what they can to pay for the wedding

Answer 13

common reason saving up money.

i would consider 3 or more years to

be a long engagement.  

Answer 14

I would consider anything longer than 12 - 16 months to be "long".

I think the most common reason is financial.  People realize the wedding they want is going to cost a bundle so they extend the engagement in order to afford it.

My own reasons for a 2-year engagement are:

finishing Masters degree then moving to a new state and having to get established at a new job (and build up vacation time so time is available to take for the wedding), selling old home in previous state in a down market (which takes more time).

Answer 15

On our wedding day, we will have been engaged for 2.5 years. Our reasoning is simply that we needed to save and plan. We aren't in any rush because we've already got the best part of the wedding anyhow.

I suppose it depends upon each person's defintion of long. Some say more than a year is long, others a year and a half, or even more. It's all subjective.

Answer 16

In my sister's case, it was cold feet! She finally got the courage to break it off after a year.

I would say money could be a common reason, or age too! Schooling could be another reason. It's good to be financially stable before you get married.  

Answer 17

1-2 years is average, sometimes less than a year, to be engaged. I think that has a lot to do with the fact that couples typically foot the bill themselves these days, whereas in the past, it was more traditional for parents to pay for the wedding. So modern couples need more time to save and pay over time. I know that's why we're engaged for a little over a year (a year and two months).