People In Arranged Marriages Open Up About What It's Really Like

Sarah Kester
Cece in New Girl
Hollywood Reporter | FOX

While arranged marriages aren't a new concept, they are foreign to many.

This is when a family ultimately decides who will marry their son or daughter, often for cultural reasons.

The engaged couple doesn't have much time to get to know each other. It could be months, weeks, or even minutes. In many cases, they take a page from Love Is Blind and marry sight unseen.

Curious as to what this married life is like? Here, people in arranged marriages share all the deets.

1. The first choice

Wedding ring
Unsplash | Drew Coffman

Not all arranged marriages happen quickly. Some take time (and a lot of difficult decisions) like this one Redditor who initially rejected her husband.

After feeling off with other suitors, she returned to her first match. Finally, saying yes felt right.

2. The two words

Shake from Love is Blind
Insider | Netflix

"Met my husband on the 9th, agreed to marry him on the 15th, and were wed on the 20th. Literally said about two words to each other, and that was with five members of his family present. Been together 13+ years. It had its ups and downs, like I imagine any marriage would- arranged or not. We are very good together. He tries to makes me happy in any way he can." - u/Kittiesandunicorns

3. The co-workers

Indian wedding
Giphy | TLC Europe

Since divorce isn't an option in many arranged marriages, some couples are forced to live unhappily.

That's the reason this Redditor witnessed a lot of yelling from his parents. He wrote that they are more like co-workers than anything else since they worked together to raise the kids.

4. The loveless marriage

Sad couple
Giphy | TLC Europe

"My parents are in an arranged marriage. Lots of fighting due to in-laws occurred and now they just find anything to fight about. They've gotten better but I had times when I'd wish they just divorced. I wouldn't be able to sleep because of their loud drunken fights at 2 AM." - u/dawtroo

5. The Yu-Gi-Oh! deck

Cards on fire
Unsplash | Julius Drost

"It's like playing Yugioh with a store deck you got for Christmas, sometimes the cards don't seem very good but you learn to work with them and find their strengths." - u/Swift_Jolteon

That makes sense to me!

6. The blind dates

Date
Unsplash | Jonathan J. Castellon

"I met five girls on the first day... And 4 on the second. Picked one that I felt I clicked with. Met her a couple more times .. Felt she was the one. Just celebrating our 3rd anniversary." - u/mauut

7. The matchmaker

Matchmaker
Giphy

One Redditor finds that "match-making" is a better term for their arranged marriage.

That's because they were friends with their wife for more than 10 years before they got married. After their parents decided that they would be a good match, their parents picked a date for an official engagement.

8. The quickie wedding

Wedding
Unsplash | Nathan Dumlao

"Married 14 years, very happily. We met for about 30 minutes before we both agreed to marry each other. We did not go out on dates as I was visiting India at the time and our families decided to have the marriage before I left." - u/SolGuy

9. The new model

Cece on New Girl
Kulture Media | FOX

Do you know how some men trade in a car for a new model? Well, this Redditor traded in a girlfriend for a new wife. Sorta.

After he broke up with an amazing girl, his family matched him up with someone even more amazing. He expressed that the love he thought he knew with that girl before doesn't even compare with the love he has now.

10. The choice

Wedding
Giphy

"In my case, I mentioned to my parents that I liked the girl, and they proceeded with everything else. I was pretty involved and know that my wife was OK with the proposal, so there was nothing forced about it." -u/swagcoffin

11. The sickness

Old couple holding hands
Unsplash | Nina Hill

Since one man's arrange wife was groomed for marriage early on, she had no other interests and couldn't carry on a conversation. This made him hate her.

But when she got very sick and he cared for her, they began to fall in love and respect one another.

12. The best decision

Happy couple
Giphy | ABC Network

"Best decision I ever made, and, yes, one of the scariest. Brought up Hindu in the West. Parents put ad in the paper (hinting at how old I am) Fifteen minutes of actual face-to-face time before the wedding. That was 20 years and 3 kids ago. She is my rock." - u/Koenigss15

13. The secret girlfriend

Deepti from Love is Blind
People | Netflix

One Redditor cheated the system by having his parents arrange a marriage with his secret girlfriend!

The same thing happened with his dad since he also married his secret girlfriend. I mean, that's one way of doing things.

14. The soulmate

Flowers
Unsplash | CHUTTERSNAP

"I am forever grateful to my parents for arranging it. I feel like he is my soulmate and I would have never found him without them. That's not to say we don't have our little fights and arguments, but which married couple doesn't?" -u/deleted

15. The fake father

Pregnant woman
Unsplash | freestocks

This next story is pretty tragic, as a woman shared that she was impregnated due to a forced sexual encounter.

Since her family didn't want to break the illusion of having a good family, they found a guy in his 40s with no kids of his own.

They arranged to have her date him with the understanding that they would be married by the time she gave birth.

Family with baby
Unsplash | Jessica Rockowitz

Thankfully, her husband turned out to be a great man and a wonderful father. Even though she never would've chosen him had it not been for her situation, she's happy.

16. The first cousins

Disbelief express
Giphy | Late Night with Seth Meyers

"My parents are first cousins. Got married in their mid-twenties. Arranged. They have had no problems. They've raised their kids well. At the moment they're next to me talking about my mom's trig hw she's taking at community college." - u/jepranav

17. The non-existent sex life

Couple in bed
Unsplash | Womanizer Toys

When you're not able to test drive the, uh, merchandise, it's hard to know if the sexual chemistry is there.

Sadly, it hasn't been for one couple. They had sex twice and then that was it.

18. The amazing...ly horrible marriage

Cece in New Girl
Hollywood Reporter | FOX

"I was involved in an arranged marriage when I turned 22 years. I had met her just once before and 8 years later we are still together and still have yet to make love. I'm also American." - u/vballrlz101

H/T: Reddit, Reddit