5 Benefits To Getting Married In Your 30’s

It’s officially wedding season, so pull out those heels and dresses and get ready to dance!  May marks a special month for Mike and I, as it’s our 3 year wedding anniversary!  At times I can’t believe it’s only been 3 years and other times I’m like it feel like it’s been way longer than 3 years.  Regardless, I’m so incredibly happy to have him as my husband. He just makes life better! At times it seemed as if I would never find the one, but finding him was half the journey.  Starting our life together was just the beginning of the rest of the journey.   

 

Getting married at 35 definitely has its benefits.  If I met Mike in my 20’s I would have not been the same person I was in my 30’s.  I can guarantee that things probably wouldn’t have worked out the way they did and he would have slipped through my hands 🙂  Being more mature and having a bit of life under my belt definitely made the process go a lot smoother and one I appreciated a lot more.  

 

Looking back, getting married at 35 has so many benefits!  I’m sharing the top 5 benefits of getting married in your 30’s.

 

You’ve Defined Your Style

In your 30’s you most likely have your signature style.  Chances are you got all of the trends out of your system and are focusing on a more classic style.  This rings true for the dress you pick (for yourself and your bridesmaids) and your wedding decor. Getting married at 35 is less about a poofy dress and more about a sleek classic dress silhouette that will stand the test of time.  You want to look back at pictures and love your dress 30 years later, not cringe because you picked something trendy. My goal was to look as close to how I look every day and then turn it up a notch.

 

I was also focused on simple decor that didn’t overpower the room.  I went for a less is more approach. For starters, I didn’t spend a ton on floral arrangements, as they die and I knew I wouldn’t remember the flowers in 10 years.  Instead, I went with mercury glass and floating votive candles as centerpieces. It provided a sophisticated mood. I threw in a couple of low boxwoods on the other tables to mix it up and called it a day.  My less is more approached took the focus off the decor and put it back into the guests having fun.

 

Your Life Is More Stable

Chances are by the time you are 30 you have lived alone, you are established in your career and you have spent a weekend or two just staying in alone. At this point in life you truly are who you are going to be for the rest of your life.  

I’m a huge proponent of living alone before you get married.  I personally never lived with roommates (after college), but I know some people do and that’s ok.  Living completely on your own provides you with true independence and the opportunity to manage a household.  

By the time you are in your 30’s your career is a bit more stable.  Your 20’s are the time to jump from job to job and your 30’s is the time to put in hard work and make a name for yourself at a company.  Being stable in your career provides you with a little more security and flexibility at your job.

 

Experiences vs. Things

The older you get the more you value experiences over materials things.  Now don’t get me wrong, everyone loves to have things, including me. But when you’re older it is less about the material things and more about the experiences in life.  A great example is a wedding shower. I did not want one. Shocking, I know, but it just wasn’t something I ever wanted to do. The thought of standing in front of people and opening gifts terrified me and we also didn’t “need” anything.  We both came to the marriage with the things we already accumulated in life.  And I didn’t want family and friends to spend a lot of money on us. That wasn’t the point of getting married in my mind. 

 

Since Mike was from another state, I did have an intimate wedding shower in his hometown that allowed us to celebrate early with many folks who unfortunately wouldn’t be able to make it to the wedding. This allowed us to experience the joy of the event live with people we care about that we wouldn’t see on the big day. That gathering contributed to my goal of making my wedding about the experiences, and not the things.

 

Consolidated Guest List

In your 30’s you’ve most likely weeded out the acquaintances and people who you just see out on a Friday night.  You have a defined group of friends and this helps with the guest list.  In your 20’s you pretty much invite everyone and anyone to your wedding.  I’m talking friends of friends and maybe some friends you wish weren’t friends. In your 30’s that’s not an issue as you’ve truly defined your group of friends.  This makes coming up with a wedding guest list so much easier. I would much rather have a smaller intimate wedding where I put money into my guest’s experience then a large wedding that I need to budget for.

 

For our wedding it was really important that our guests had a good meal.  I’m sure your thinking that the words “wedding” and “good meal” don’t always appear in the same sentence.  But they can! We were able to splurge a little on the food and provide our guests with a non-traditional wedding meal.  Of course we thought it was delicious, but our guests took the time to comment after the fact about how good it was. This reinforced our decision on the food.

 

Appreciate The Act Of Marriage

I’m an old fashion girl, and I still believe in the virtues and the sacred act of marriage.  I feel that some people get married because it’s the right thing to do at the right time.  Some people actually feel society’s pressure to get married.  I personally never felt that way. In fact both Mike and I told each other several times we would rather be alone forever than with the wrong person just to be with someone.  There is no point in spending time with someone you “kind of” love for the rest of your life. It’s the rest of your life, and you need to love that person with everything you have!

 

When I got married it wasn’t about the dress, the food or the music, it was truly about marrying my best friend, the man I spent my whole life looking for.  I literally  couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life with him.  We chose to memorize our vows because they meant so much to us. We also felt that we were getting married and the least we could do was take the time to memorize these very special words.

 

It’s no secret that I’ve moved at my own pace my entire life and sometimes it frustrates me. However, getting married later in life was the one thing that I knew was the right thing to do.  When I met Mike it just felt right, and it always felt natural, which is the most important thing.

 

So what about you guys, did you get married in your 30’s?  If so what are the benefits of being older when you got married?