I think, for a lot of people, the reason marriage changes things is because subconsciously they think, they've sealed the deal. You know longer have to work as hard at your relationship because, you're married. It's not like you have to worry about losing the person, right? Right??

I wouldn't know from experience.

But I do know a label can change anything just because of the ways it affects you subconsciously. I wouldn't be surprised at all if a label such as 'married' had a profound effect on the psyche's of the people attached to it.

Weird I wrote a post about this today too asking pretty much the same thing! I don't know. Like you I live with my fiancé and things are SOOO much better than I think they would be if we never would have lived together. I think things won't really change too much after we sign that marriage certificate you know? If any change happens I think it'll be for the BETTER. :)  

I have asked myself the same exact questions for so long. Me and my SO have been together for two years and we live together. Right now things are not wonderful so we are taking a little break from the house and going to our own homes to see our families but that's besides the point. Lol. Anyway, why do things have to change. I have seen so many marriages change for the worse and I don't see why it has to happen. It doesn't really make any sense to me. If you live together and do everything together then what is different about getting married? Why does it change at all? People make it harder I think, and cause it to change. One of the two changes which causes stress and puts strain on the relationship which then causes the marriage to change them as a whole for the worse. Maybe the people that change have a issue with labels? I don't know but if you figure out another answer do tell. :] Lol.

elll love your way.

I got married this past December and can honestly say hardly anything changed. we did live together for exactly one month before our wedding but no major changes occurred. yes you do get "more comfortable" around your spouse but if you're were being yourself with each other from the beginning then there shouldnt be any major shocks after tieing the knot. i love being married to my husband. (:

Well in my experience my ex husband changed because he thought that since we were married he owned me. This was his argument for everything, "I own you, you're my wife!" That, ladies and gentlemen is why he is my EX-husband.

Well I think there are some things that might really change with marriage, some people are having sex for the first time and that may have a lot of emotional change. Not living together might have its changes, designating chores, looking at finances, if your moving in together for the first time you learn a lot of peeves you didnt know before, for most girls I know its the toilet seat, for me its that he leaves his beard trimmings in the sink =(. I also learned a lot by living with someone, but with marriage, to some its that ultimate committment - while others have the mentality of "if it doesnt work out, I'll get divorced".Ive been with my guy 5, going close to 6 years and are still learning. Getting married in 44 days, so I will tell you if anything changes.

I think it probably only changes a lot if you didn't date for long first, or didn't live together before getting married.  Not to say that not living together before marriage is a bad thing.  I don't plan on ever living with any boyfriends or fiances because I'm a serious Christian and thus will be abstinent in all relationships before marriage.  I know that a lot will change due to that when I get married, but I'm going to go into it expecting that to happen and being willing to work through those problems.  I think in any change of status, people should expect change... it's only when they're unwilling to work through it that it causes problems.

"Love is the insanity only curable by marriage" Exceptions of course exist :p
I don't think its "marriage" that does it, its living with someone that is the trigger. Their faults tend to stick out like a sore thumb since you're with them every single day. Unlike dating where you're seeing each other once in awhile and you feel compelled to impress one another, once you start living together, you don't get that feeling all the time and tend to be expecting an expression of love often and thus eventually it turns into a fault and you start blaming each other for it.

kk soooo......i think maybe the differences a person finds in marriage really r effected by how well u know the person or how well they let u know them. part of being with someone it finding out who they r n who u r with them. like my situation....my hubby n i met online while he was in iraq we were just friends of course but kept a constant relationship going n always find things to talk bout. we talked n started dating while he was still in iraq n when we finially got to meet eachother in person is when we got married (i know its crazy n not something ppl normally do) but it worked for us because we knew eachothers faults before hand we argued every once in a while n knew that when we did get married it wasnt gonna b all rainbows n sunshine but were compfortable with eachother, we dont try to impress eachother because were already impressed. weve been married for bout 4 months n i know its not very long but im still as happy now as i was before and we even joke with eachother saying "forget bout prince charming, just find someone u can stand to live with n marry them" lol our situation is uniqe but i think as long as ur compfortable with the one ur with marriage shouldnt change a damn thing bout ur guys relationship. laters!

Reading some of the things people have said, I don't think things should change. I think it's person specific. My boyfriend is an only child, I, however, live with 3 guys, so male "hygiene," or lack thereof, has never really been an issue. So I don't think I personally will have problems (mind you I know nothing, so this is all guess work), however he might, since he's use to having a LOT of his own free space and time.