I have been with my partner for over a year-and-a-half, and he’s been allergic to the concept of marriage for the entire time I’ve known him. From our earliest dates together to the day I moved in with him, he’s had no interest in putting a ring on anything – and gladly told me as such.

So, when he proposed to me on a recent trip to Berlin, I was as shocked by the change of heart as the question itself. It felt so out of character as to be a small betrayal of what I thought I knew about him.

Marriage is forever, so what’s the rush?Credit: iStock

My first response was to laugh the proposal off. I didn’t think he was being serious. He later told me it was one of the most frightening things he’d ever done.

I’m 28 and the prospect of getting married had never entered my mind. For a start, I hadn’t experienced anything close to a long-term relationship before now. When you’re in your 20s isn’t it a little early to go through the “getting down on one knee” experience? I enjoy living in Melbourne’s inner city, and regular travel. I thought that I was years away from a first-home purchase and quiet retreat to the suburbs. I can see that it’s the right decision for plenty of other Australians. I’m happy for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who’s set to tie the knot sometime soon, but he’s at an entirely different phase of his life.

A hundred years ago, I’d........

© WA Today