How do I (f21) know we're (m22) ready for marriage?

I (21F) have been with my fiance (22M) for almost 4 years now. We've been with each other through it all and have done a great job of getting ourselves together so far.

We've wanted to get married for quite a while now and I absolutely want to marry him. But a few months ago, I told him I wanted to hold off or slow down. We had just started getting ourselves together as actual adults. We were finally working and gearing up to move out on our own. I was scared at the time because I've never had to be responsible for myself in such a way. With living so far away from family, that meant it would just be the two of us. I was worried that he wasn't ready to handle things if shit went sideways, and I still don't know if I can. Our timeline and the stress of this move has been a lot. My family will be leaving soon, so we have to get a place by then. Neither of us have a license, and at the time my dad's car note felt impossible. It wasn't until I actually looked at our joint income that I understood how well we were actually doing.

At the time it wasn't that I wanted to break up, but the alternative to progressing would be to move away with my family.

I went back and forth with myself a lot these past few months. I think I've messed up some of the trust in our relationship too. I realized that I may have some control issues. I get anxious when I don't know what's happening, and I can only plan and manage everything to feel like it'll be alright. We compliment each other because I'm not great at execution, and he's not great at planning. In this case, I just felt alone because of the lack of planning on his side.

Things are finally starting to settle down, and yesterday he said he was still excited to get married on our chosen date. I still feel apprehensive about the move, but I recognize that it wasn't really about *him* I was just scared. I just don't have anything to prove either of us are ready for this, so I don't know how ready I am for us to get married.

I feel safe with him, and I know he'll do whatever needs to be done. He's been nothing short of amazing since the day we met, and I couldn't have dreamed of anyone better. But I know this is just the first of many questions and lessons for us when it comes to an adult relationship.

How do I figure this out? I don't feel like I can talk to my family about it, and it feels like I'm just overthinking again.

Posted May 10, 2026, 2:13 PM UTC

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