All marital unions more or less go through some predictable stages. Most people understand that relationships grow and change over time.
There are specific, defined stages of long-term relationships, which offer new feelings, new challenges to overcome, and new opportunities for growth.
Every couple will move through these stages at different speeds, and most people will experience each stage more than once – it is common to fluctuate from one stage to another.
Hence, most marriages will cover these stages maybe once or more. These are the important stages of marriage couples goes through.
1. The Honeymoon Stage
Usually, the first year or two is a passion-fueled period that’s all about the two of you and your intense focus on the attraction that made you want to walk down the aisle, to begin with. It’s the initial, sweeping romance that often consumes a couple when they first get together.
2. Settling In, Settling Down
The second stage of marriage takes place as the first comes to an end – sometimes gradually, at other times suddenly, depending on the circumstances affecting the bride, groom and their life together. It’s the realisation stage, during which you learn things you might not have known (or happily ignored) about your spouse’s strengths, weaknesses and personal habits.
3. Disillusionment
The third stage of a relationship is the Disillusionment stage. This is the winter season of love, one that may feel like the end of the road for some couples. At this point, the power struggles in the relationship have come fully to the surface; the issues the couple have consistently shoved under the rug are now glaringly obvious. Too many couples start to wonder: Is this all there is to life?
4. The Safe Net
In this stage of marriage, husbands and wives begin to realise they married someone with as many vices as virtues, and each one reverts to re-inventing themselves in new ways. In the best scenario, this stage is about reunion where you are getting to know each other all over again, unpacking old baggage and having fun.
5. Whole-Hearted Again
When the relationship is at its healthiest and most rewarding – Couples experience true individuation, self-discovery, and the acceptance of imperfection in both themselves and their partners, recognizing there is no such thing as a perfect match.
