As long as you believe that you know the other person well, and that you have been honest and open with them allowing them to know what you are really like then you should be ready for marriage.

As you are making a decision on a relationship that should last a lifetime it is better to be safe than sorry and make sure that you have properly considered the consequences of it not working out.

The data scientist Randal Olson recently visualized some of the findings from a paper by Andrew Francis and Hugo Mialon, two researchers at Emory University who studied 3,000 married couples in the U. Their findings offer some take-aways for couples who want to minimize their chances of divorce: You should date for three years before popping the question. Similarly, a well-attended ceremony might be a proxy for a large family that pressures and/or supports the couple and helps them stay together.

A strong marriage, in other words, is an intentional one.

But the other findings, like the fact that expensive rings and ceremonies don't yield happier unions, are more surprising.

Perhaps ill-matched couples use giant diamonds or flashy weddings to cover up the cracks in their emotional foundations.

Some of the women in our office, as well as some of you out there, may be wondering if a ring is in your not-so-distant future. Don't let a little plane, train or automobile ride get in the way of your relationship. In today's world, it's likely you've grown up in one region and now live in a different one.

Or maybe couples that have modest rings and receptions feel that their boundless love is a celebration enough.

Maybe this is all being thrown by some hidden Kardashian variable that none of us has uncovered yet.

The average age of marriage across the United States for the same time period was 23.6 for women and 25.8 for men*, so the men and women in this sample were 3 to 3.5 years older on average at the time of marriage.

I suppose the relatively high average age of marriage in the sample would explain a curious personal experience that I once had that has never been repeated at other weddings I’ve attended.