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I think marriage is way harder. Less awkward probably, but way harder. When you're dating it's so much easier to find things to talk about, or to do and discover new things together. When you're married, I think it's really a challenge to keep things fresh and interesting. Plus, it's much easier to see someone a few times a week than it is to live with them and incorporate all their habits and preferences into your lifestyle and living space.

Being married isn't hard. It's everything that comes after being married that's hard.

Kids, no time for each other, worrying about money now that it's not just you and DH, etc etc

So in some ways, married life is harder than dating life.

Ok, I answered wrong, because I thought the question meant is marriage harder or easier than dating my husband specifically. So I said about the same. But marriage is WAY easier than dating in general! Although I've been with my H for almost 12 years, so dating anyone else is mostly a distant memory

I think both are easy and hard in different ways. I think marriage is hard in the fact that you've built a life together and you're constantly making decisions and maintaining this married life with a house, cars, kids, etc. whereas with dating, there aren't a ton of big decisions and really, there's not much to fight over.

I don't have much dating experience. DH was my first boyfriend, although I had gone on a couple one-off "dates" before him. I'm a very shy person so the idea of dating is not appealing to me at all. I feel that I'm lucky I found DH.

So because of that, I would say marriage is WAY easier. DH and I haven't had any struggles or anything though (yet?). We rarely fight. I love being able to be myself around him and not have to worry about saying something stupid or making a fool out of myself.

I think it depends on what angle I'm looking from. The idea of going out on dates/meeting someone/ect. sounds awful to me and for tha reason marriage is easier, I have my partner, ect.

BUT dating was easier in that we got into a disagreement, we could "separate" to our own places an cool down without worrying the kids or I didn't have to coordinate with someone else in regards to money/purchases. I miss some of the freedom that came with dating, but I would never change it.

I don't think one is easier than the other, period. Marriage is easier in the sense that there are no games, no awkwardness, no big "talks" to see where you're going, no second guessing, etc. But marriage obviously is very hard work too!

@JoJoGirl: Yes, so true.

Marriage is sooooooooo much easier. I have conversations like the one you had with your friends all the time. My closest friends are always talking about their dating woes and I just keep my mouth shut. I am so so so glad I'm not having to go through the crap they do.

I think it can very much depend on how much work you put into your relationship while dating. My husband and I took our dating relationship very seriously and talked through / worked through a lot of potential areas of conflict. We basically did premarital counseling for an entire year before we got married, and developed conversational and relational skills that have really smoothed out the marriage road, per se.

I think marriage is harder.

I never dated anyone other than my now husband past the age of 19, so I feel like I kind of know more about marriage than I know about dating. Also, since I met my husband so young, I never got to the stage of like "Oh crap, I need to meet someone. I need to find the right guy for me." I didn't have that pressure because we just happened to meet when I was still in college.

Marriage is hard work. You have to decide DAILY to forgive, to compromise, and (sometimes) to even LIKE that person. For me, although I love my husband dearly, sometimes I don't like him. When I am run ragged, have too much on my plate, and haven't slept a full night in years, I still need to decide to be kind to him, show him love, give him the benefit of the doubt, consider his needs in every situation, and PARENT AS A TEAM WITH HIM (no silent treatment anymore!) etc. It wasn't like that with dating. I cared about myself first, and if I wasn't feeling it, I could just leave. Also, there weren't kids in the picture, so there wasn't the added pressure of trying to do right by 3 little humans who needed me.

I think marriage is way harder. I've been with my husband for 11 years now and it's so much harder than when we were dating. We were so young when we met, 19 and 20. When you are that young and in college with no responsibility, you have no idea what is coming. Every day we choose to love each other, to forgive each other, to compromise, to take on the responsibilities of a family, etc.

I would rather be married than dating. Sure dating is fun but I hate the petty issues (who pays for dates) and the bigger ones (is this going anywhere? Are you marriage material? Etc).

Marriage is hard after kids but at the end of the day DH and I are committed to one another and I know a fight isn't going to make him reconsider our relationship (though it might while dating).

@petunia354: agree. I think marriage takes a lot of resolve and patience.

Dating - like finding someone - sucked. Being in a dating relationship (dating DH) was AWESOME. The first two years of our relationship were great and easy easy easy.

I have found marriage to be wonderful but also very hard in many ways. But I still don't miss dating at all.

I guess I am lucky, in nine years of marriage, to have never had to put any effort into 'liking' my husband. Finding balance takes work, being our best selves even when we're exhausted is hard, growing up and getting the work done when it comes to the house, our finances, the annoying stuff, that can be hard. But I guess I am lucky to have never stopped enjoying him.

I would far rather be doing that than trying to date in my 30s, yikes.

So I voted bunnies! I've been with my husband since I was 16 years old I never dated as an adult, so I can't say which is more difficult. I feel incredibly lucky to have found my match so early on and that I never had to date.

Marriage has been so much easier for me than dating. I like the security and stability of it. Dating was exciting but I was always anxious. Marriage brought me a sort of peace that I never had before that. DH is usually a nice calm influence on me. As time has gone on, I think I've become a more calm person too, so that probably helps things.

Parenting is obviously tough (and much harder than our pre-marriage lifestyle) but I don't think our relationship has suffered from it. Plus, I think we appreciate our date nights so much more now.

Marriage is sooooo much easier/better than dating. At least for me. I was never one of those people that dating came easy to. I had a lot of go nowhere dates, a few guys that I dated a while and it never really turned into a relationship, and one guy with tons of drama who kind of broke me. I always felt unsure about everything. Now I feel secure and happy and it just works. Not every day is roses and sunshine, but it's still better than trying to find the person you fit with in today's world. Imagine dating in the age of Tinder? Everyone is judging you in a few seconds and can easily swipe past you, thinking there's always someone better out there.