I would say so. That's my opinion, though.

Yes, you shouldn't expect someone to propose, because you have a schedule to uphold. How about taking it one day at a time, and letting the man propose when and if he chooses. Or, you can ask him to marry you. What is monotonous, you are planning on being with him everyday, RIGHT? What does it matter if you have a ring or not????

i think you have every right to know what you want, but i feel you must make this clear to your partner early in in the relationship, that way, he knows where he stands, and what your expectations are?

I am totally with you on this one!!! No, I don't think you're wrong at all. I would feel the same way.

I agree that you should express this with the person you are planning to date...that if things seem to be lining up during the dating period that this is how you feel...if they are agree move forward with dating... Our singles group leader from church has a kind of general time line for healthy relationships..it was something like this (although may not always be the case) know the person as a friend for 6mo-1year (hanging out in groups)...this allows you to see their character, see how they handle their finances..do they have healthy habits..healthy relationships, how do they deal with anger, disappointment etc. not that you are looking for someone who is perfect but knowing if their are things in their life style that you are okay with...if not waiting 6mo to a year can save you from a lot of heartache. Date at least a year- if you followed the things listed above....since you will already know them fairly well and are dating because you believe that you could see yourself married to them. This is the season that you begin to complement each other (in your character and personality) this is where the test of compatibility comes into play. You were obviously best friends and thats what lead you to believe you could be possibly married some day. Be engaged for 6mo. to a year...is you are abstaining from sex before marriage long engagements will only make things worse...dont get engaged to prolong the "dating season". By the time you are engaged you should know the person well enough and it should purely be "wedding planning season" worked for us! We just hit three years and I can honestly say getting married is the best thing I have ever done :)

don't know about inline or out-of-line... you might ask yourself how you feel sitting in this or any expectation? if your answer is NOT joyful, then consider letting go of your expectations and then start living your life... if you prefer a tense and nervous state where NOW isn't ever good enough, then stay the course...

Thats not wrong, gee I mean my friend started dating this girl back in Oct 07 and proposed to her in Jan or Feb (would have to check my messages). They are getting married in Jun and I know they will be happy together. - Its really up to the two people when marriage will be and the circumstances for both of them. A major thing would be to talk about it with who ever your dating, thats the whole reason for dating to find someone that has the same ideas close to yours. - Good luck with it all :-D

It is my understanding that the engagement period is supposed to last as long as it takes to properly plan the wedding. In history, there were some religious requirements, such as publishing Banns on the church door for three weeks before the wedding. The planning would be about a year, to get all the arrangement made. I don't see any reason for an engagement to last much longer than that. Edit: I answered for the engagement, not the length of time before that. It would conceivable take a couple of years to get to know someone well enough to decide if you wanted to spend your life with them, but maybe longer.

We were together for five years before we got married. Getting married was great, but it wasn't necessary. I found nothing monotonous about dating because I was enjoying my relationship immensely, and being married wasn't the goal. Having a great friendship and romantic relationship was. I wouldn't want an engagement ring until the person I love was ready to give one to me. That is how it happened for us, nothing was forced. Perhaps I am in the minority, but I don't think everyone has the same time frame for deciding they want to marry.

I think it depends on how ready you are for marriage. And why you are dating. I don't think of dating as a sort of recreational activity. To me it was always what you do to find someone to marry. It's a getting to know time and seeing if you are compatible and whether you have enough to live a lifetime on. And it helps if both know this, that that is the reason you are dating. As soon as things look likely, share what's important, goals for the future, family plans , career, religion or not. And if things are still okay and they love each other, then get engaged and after some planning, why wait further if you've already decided that you are right for each other enough to get engaged. I waited 4 years after meeting my husband because I was too young. I really like him but i was just 14. But he gave me a promise ring at 16, got engaged at 17 and married him at 18 when I thought I was old enough and ready to start my own household with him. And all this when he was 4 1/2 years older. We even waited for our wedding night to have sex. It was worth it. We have no regrets. We waited. We got to know each other. And we've been married for nearly 35 years.