6 Marriage Challenges That No One Prepares You For

These six experiences almost always come as a surprise to newlyweds. Here's a breakdown of each—including how they manifest in a new marriage.

By Mark Travers, Ph.D. | November 11, 2024

Marriage marks the beginning of a deeply significant life transformation, bringing two unique people together in ways that feel fulfilling but can also be unexpectedly challenging. For many newlyweds, the reality of day-to-day married life often differs from idealized expectations.

Research published in the Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal offers insights from 21 newlywed couples on the unexpected adjustments they had to make when they got married. While these aren't necessarily negative, they do require effective communication, understanding and patience to navigate.

Here are six surprising experiences that newlyweds have in their early years together, according to the study.

1. Getting Past 'The Little Things'

While dating, you often get glimpses of each other's quirks, but marriage brings them into full view. Newlyweds frequently find themselves adjusting to each other's routines and daily habits.

These "little things" might include preferences around household chores or personal habits such as nail-biting or leaving dishes in the sink. Initially, they may seem trivial, but over time, they may start to irk.

"So when we were dating, because we weren't together 24-7, we weren't always staying with each other at night, getting up together, it was kind of natural for me—'this is what I do after I brush my teeth,' and she doesn't necessarily understand. So we have to meet in the middle. It just causes us frustration because we never thought about that stuff," one husband explains.

Participants also mention struggling with retaining their individual identity while building a new life as a couple. Used to acting on their own, they now had to take the other person into consideration for most life decisions.

"For a while I thought I lost my identity, because everything that I did by myself before, like I used to have a bank account, and my own credit cards and now it's different, because now it's in both of our names, and I felt like I didn't really have anything that made me feel independent. I don't want to have everything separate, but I still want to be able to take a role in some of the things," one wife describes.

2. Balancing Competing Loyalties

Marriage introduces new challenges related to balancing time with your spouse and other important people in your life, like parents, siblings and friends. Questions about where to spend the holidays, how often to visit each other's parents or how to maintain friendships can create unexpected friction.

"We live 2 hours away from my parents house, and sometimes when I tell (husband) I'm going to ask off work so I can go up and see my family, 'Why do you need to do that, you just saw them last month?' He doesn't really have that much interaction with his family. Sometimes he doesn't understand why I need the comfort and support I do up there, but I do," one wife explains.

3. Managing Expectations And Letdowns

It's natural for newlyweds to enter marriage with high hopes for a deeply fulfilling relationship. Yet, many find that marriage doesn't magically eliminate challenges they faced before. Some may even find that they argue more often or struggle to find time for quality interaction. This discrepancy between expectation and reality can be disappointing.

"I guess I thought that we would be a lot closer than we are. That we'd be having a lot more emotional closeness based on shared experiences, and time spent talking to each other. Like our lives would be more like unified, and working together, as opposed to just being together," one wife explains, echoing the sentiments of multiple other women in the study.

"I thought maybe there'd be some different feelings once we got married and it honestly wasn't, I didn't love her any more or any less. Just kind of the same feeling. Now I say my wife instead of girlfriend. Kind of a letdown, but not enough to cause me any grief," another participant mentions.

4. Accepting New Responsibilities

For many newlyweds, the sudden responsibility of shared decision-making can be unexpectedly overwhelming. Choices about finances, career paths and future planning begin to carry more weight. This added responsibility may prompt self-doubt or fear about meeting each other's expectations, but some participants also found that this new phase of life encouraged their personal growth.

"The day you get back from the honeymoon, it's like 'now what? ...is my job good enough to sustain us and our kids, and is the place we are living in where I want to raise a kid?' You start doubting whether you're good enough. Because it's real after you get married, it's not like you're playing house," one participant explains.

5. Navigating Relationship Roles

Newlywed couples also encounter unanticipated roles and responsibilities. For instance, some may feel surprised by the way gender roles subtly influence their division of household duties. A partner might assume they'll handle most finances, while the other handles more household responsibilities. Disagreements over finances and chores are common, especially if one partner feels they're shouldering more than their fair share.

"He's thinking about his school…about his music. I can't interrupt his life with the petty things that I worry about, because it's just not equal. So sometimes he'll put that back in my face, 'I've got school to worry about, I can't worry about cleaning up after myself.' I'm just like, 'I work, I clean up after myself, how hard is it?'" one wife explains.

6. Changes In Sexual Intimacy

A shift in physical intimacy is another surprising reality that many newlyweds face. Some couples who had an active sex life before marriage may find that frequency changes due to factors like work stress, fatigue or new responsibilities. They may also face a mismatch in when and how often the other person wants to have sex.

For those who waited until marriage to have sex, their expectations or assumptions may not align with reality, especially if they're based on idealized media portrayals.

"We had more sex before we were married. I guess I figured we'd have more, but it's not bad. It's not as often as I figured it would be. But that's because we're busy and tired," one wife mentions.

While newlyweds may encounter many such unexpected surprises, these aren't signs of a failing relationship. Instead, they're opportunities to grow together and learn about each other's deepest values, quirks and needs.

Do you believe popular myths about marriage? Take this test to learn more: Belief In Marital Myths Scale

A similar version of this article can also be found on Forbes.com, here, and on PsychologyToday.com, here.