This is when you’re meant to reach all the major relationship milestones

When you first start dating someone all you’re thinking about is where you’ll go for dinner, who will make the first move and if they’re going to text you the next day. However once you start to get comfortable and begin the actual relationship, those significant milestones start to sneak in and you find yourself wondering if one month is too early to say “I love you”. Soon you begin comparing your relationship to your mates’ – one friend is moving in with their new partner after three months but another took over a year just to introduce their partner to their parents.

Basically there are no set rules and it’s stressing me out because I need to know how normal my relationship is. So when are you actually meant to hit these relationship milestones?

Jewellery brand Daniel Christopher has analysed data from YouGov in order to find out the most common time to reach these milestones. By looking at this data they’ve been able to find an average time stamp in which men and women reach a certain milestone. From meeting the parents to your first holiday together, this is when you should be hitting those key relationship milestones:

Meeting the parents – one month

Both men and women are in agreement that meeting the parents or close family usually happens around one month into dating.

After just 30 days? And you’re willing to meet their family? Now that is what I call intense.

Saying the L word – three months

Saying “I love you” for the first time is probably the most terrifying moment in most of our lives so it makes sense people are waiting at least three months before saying those three little words.

However women are slightly ahead of men when it comes to this (shocker) and 24 per cent of women say it around the three month mark in comparison to 22 per cent of men.

Going on your first holiday together – six months to a year

The first holiday together is guaranteed to make or break your relationship. A whole week together lazing around, drinking cocktails and getting sunburnt – you’re either going to want to kill them or pop the question. There is no in-between.

Unlike most milestones women are slower to take this step, with 20 per cent of women saying they would go after a year in comparison to 18 per cent of men who would opt for six months for that first trip together.

Getting engaged – a year

If you didn’t end up pushing your partner into the pool on holiday then apparently one year is the time for couples to get engaged.

Both men and women seem to be in agreement the 12 month mark is the time to pop the question.

Moving in together – one to two years

Surely this should come before getting engaged? So you know if you can actually see yourself living together forever?

For a man the average time to move in with his partner is just one year, however for women on average it’s between a year and two years. And they say we’re the intense ones.

Featured image credit via Instagram @oliviadbowen

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