Couples who have been together a long time - is married life any different?

I'm not married yet, but my opinion is that it depends on so many other factors, like living together, combining finances, plans to have children or not, children you already have, etc.

FH and I were together for 7 years before moving in together, and moving in together was a HUGE adjustment for me. He had an easier time with it, but I really struggled with all the change in my life at that point. Now everything is truly great and I am very much happy. It's been almost two years, and will be a few months more than two years by the time of the wedding. I feel like it's been a gradual process to become a married couple if that makes any sense. We're slowly combining accounts and various policies as the time is convenient for us. We've been making major decisions together for years. And family planning is an important, ongoing conversation about our present lives now, rather than a fun topic we used to talk about our future.

So, no, I don't think much more will change.

However, I do feel like other people treat married couples differently, even if subconsciously. I feel like we've gotten more respect as a social unit since we moved in together, much more since we got engaged, and I suspect it will be even more when we get married. FH's work buddies finally understand that, no, he's not interested in meeting women with them. My girlfriends now find it normal for me to skip out on something to spend quality time with FH. I can see this pattern continuing more than anything else.

1. I love your story of how you met, and also how perfectly you sum up relationships and tv shows

2. As an adult who recently acquired step parents, I greatly appreciate the formality of both my parents getting married, as I had felt uncomfortable knowing what to call these people in my life. (I suppose this backs up my last comment above that marriage seems to change how OTHER people think/feel more than the couple themselves.)