Has there been a rom-com made about this yet? I’m thinking that by this point, there has to be at least one (starring Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz, perhaps?).
Surprisingly, marriage pacts actually exist in real life – you know the ones I mean, where people say, “if we’re not married by “X” age, you and I are getting married.”
These folks on AskReddit have the stories to prove it.
#1. I wonder why…
“I met someone once who did this for tax purposes. They were already good friends and planned on divorcing if they ever met someone they wanted to marry.
He was confused as to why his relationships never lasted past him saying he was married.”
#2. Hmmmm
“I know a couple that did this, she left her ex-boyfriend to be with the guy. They each promised to marry one another if they weren’t in a relationship when they reach a certain age.
The ex-boyfriend, who is my cousin, was not happy when he got out of prison and saw his “girl” married to someone and has a child. My cousin isn’t smart and wants a paternity test to prove the child is his, for the record he has been in prison for 6 years and the child is 4.”
#3. Still married!
“My husband and I met playing FFXI (an MMO) when we were about 14 years old. We lived one state over, and became good friends – chatting online and on the phone mostly. When I was going through a typical exaggerated end of the world break up where I claimed to be unloveable and alone forever, he was trying to comfort me and said, “if we’re single at 24, we can get married together.” I reminded him of that a bunch of times in the future when both of us went through bad relationships.
At age 20, finally both single and capable of traveling, we went on our first date. It was lovely. We went to a museum and one of the best steak restaurants in the city – however, we totally couldn’t afford the steak. Did two years long distance (USA – JAPAN). Continued dating, married at 26 (two years late!), and went back to that steak restaurant and got the most expensive steak.
Still married and happy. :)”
#4. Awwwwwww
“Ok, so kinda happened… My husband and I were best friends in middle and high school. After multiple failed teenage relationships we made a pact to get married at 35 if we hadn’t found anyone yet.
We lost touch in our early twenties for about ten years.. each with a child and failed marriages under our belts, we reconnected in our early thirties, realized how amazing we are for each other, and have been happily together since. It was a year or two into our relationship when a mutual friend reminded us of our pact…We didn’t get married until 36, but go us? Lol.”
#5. Worked out
“I had this with a girl. The 30 years of age deadline. We hooked up at 25 and got married at 30. Still together.”
#6. The long haul
“We met when we were 5 years old. We had a crush on each other, but we both switched schools after 4 years, and lost communication. We met again in 9th grade and became good friends, but he had a gf. For years every time one of us was single, the other was in a relationship.
So we stayed as best friends, and only kissed once during senior year. Eventually, after a bad breakup, he tells me if we hit 30 and we’re still single we should get married. I agreed.
Fast forward to 10 years after that, and we’ve been together for almost 2 years. Not married, but still very happy.”
#7. You never know
“I made this pact with a very good friend. We’re both in our separate relationships that are both going very strong, and we still talk very often (she’s in another country so meeting up is kinda hard). I don’t think either of us ever believed we would have needed the pact, but at the time it was nice knowing that we weren’t gonna end up alone.”
#8. What a story
“Not successful. She asked me to marry her by 30 when we were both 19. I said sure because I had a huge crush on her anyway. We dated briefly for a summer before she went back to college and have been good friends the rest of the time. She ended up becoming a Catholic sister after college (she takes similar vows of celibacy and poverty as a nun would, but lives “in the world” as opposed to being secluded in a convent) and works for the church in finance.
We still see each other, are both in our late 30s. We have talked about it and she does admit to wanting in the past to be with me romantically again, that I am the only person she has been intimate with, but that she believes strongly in what she is doing and her vows. I love her dearly as a person and dont think of her romantically anymore, but it would be hard for me to say no if she left the church and wanted to see me again.”
#9. Mom and Dad
“My parents grew up a few streets apart and played together all the time. They went to different schools and one or the other was always in a relationship or crushing on someone so neither of them really saw each other as an option until they were both dumped on the very same day when they were 17/19 and decided they’d get married at 30.
They’ve been together for 24 years :)”
#10. Wish I could go back…
“We agreed manybyeats ago if we were still single at 40, we’d get married. Had a 1 year relationship with her at 30, and it ended badly. We’ve spoken 3 times since then, and I’m in a relationship I’d rather not be in almost 10 years down the line. She is still single, and I wish I could go back and fix the problems.”
