Does being married feel different?

I was always told by family members that were married 30+ years that if something changes when you sign that piece of paper then something wasn't right before.

We've been together for almost 4 years and lived together nearly the entire time. We've always been very close and people would see us and actually would think we had just started dating becausr of how lovey we are and would genuinely be surprised to hear we'd been together for years.

When I married him, it just made me happier. I didn't expect a change but it was there. I always had the what's mine is yours attitude and had even been calling him my husband for a while before marrying but now it just feels like it has more meaning. It's like it created an even bigger emotional attachment than before. I couldn't stop looking at him for the whole wedding and kissing him and it was like a honeymoon phase on top of our existing 4 year long honeymoon phase. Day to day is the same but now we know for sure just how serious we are about eachother. I think it helped hearing his and my personalized vows too. All that emotion coming out all at once.

Nope! We've been together for 11 years, living together for 7+....own a house together, we've been through so much in the 11 years, that we knew we were right for each other.

No it didn't! It's just a change being called by my new last name. I thought that it would feel different, but it definitely does not.

Not particularly. I am quite enjoying being able to threaten divorce now though ;-)

Nope, it feels exactly the same. We've lived together for 2 years, and been together for almost 4 years. I think once I officially change my last name, I will definitely feel different.

When most people ask, I'll say "oh there's nothing different but my last name!" since we lived together for two years before we got married.

But I'm going to be super honest here. The only time it felt different was when we had our first big fight after the wedding (and it was a hell of a fight - long story short, he lied and I was livid about it, even though the lie was his attempt to protect me and my feelings). It was this overwhelming feeling of not having any escape. Not that I don't love him, not that I don't want to be married to him - but there was a definite difference in how I felt about that fight. I cried for three days on and off because I felt betrayed and trapped. The fact that it was about something involving the wedding made it hurt even more.

We've had lots of very frank conversations since then. In the same way that I felt I can't escape, I also don't want to and neither does he. There is a comfort that comes from being married and we're much better at talking with (and listening to) one another now

We aren't tying together our finances until we're married so that idea of what's mine is yours and what yours is mine isn't something we've always had... other than that we have been living together for a while so I'm not sure if Day to say will be different.

My mom said when she married my dad it felt "sacred" and she felt like "OMG this is my HUSBAND"

I'm with @ Jackie. Day to day life feels about the same.

On a side note, I have always called him my "BF". Most of the time I still call him that because that's what I'm used to. It did feel different when I introduced myself as his wife the other day.

I was just married July 8 and it does not feel different to me at all. After reading these forums I thought it might but nope. We got home from the honeymoon and it was business as usual. We do have fun saying husband and wife. That's about it.

Yes, it did for me, and I didn't think it would. We lived together 3 years beforehand, too, with kids and finances and all of it. But a lot of it was just the emotional/mental aspects. We felt closer, more united, more a family, for lots of reasons. Plus just the wedding process and celebrating with friends and family made it feel more "official."

I've always told people that married life feels exactly the same, and then when they react with obvious pity and horror I have to clarify "which is a good thing...because we loved each other beforehand too...duh "

We're coming up on 9 years of dating and maybe 3 years of officially living together (I can't even remember, because we had been spending every night together for like 7 years). We have an 8 year old dog and started splitting finances a long time ago.

Only external things like accounts, finances, medical stuff feels different to me! I've been with DH when he's been hospitalized in the past when I was "just a girlfriend" and that absolutely sucked.

I say the same thing as @Ski. Nothing changed but my name.

We have lived together for almost 6 years but it does feel different at least to me. Different better not worse. Of course we have not combined our bank accounts or anything like that...yet, but I feel that we are at a deeper level of commitment which makes us both act and think that we are not just doing things or making decisions for just one person but for us as a married couple. Not sure how long this will last.....but enjoying it while it does!!