Dating and Marriage in Utah County, Utah. aka Happy Valley :)

Dating and marriage is greatly influenced by religion in my hometown. The LDS church holds a great influence on many kids in Utah. I am also influenced by this. Some people might think Utah's culture is slightly strange, but for us it is considered normal.
In the LDS church it is appropriate for young people to date when they turn 16, therefore most dating does not occur until then. A lot of people ignore this guideline though but ordinarily that is about the age relationships occur. Dating is normal here and most teenagers go on dates often. Dances at school obviously encourage dates. Dating tends to involve a girl and guy hanging out at a movie or dinner or going to various events like a festival or carnival. Relationships like boyfriend and girlfriend are less common here in my opinion so dating lots of people is encouraged. Honestly I don't think I have dated the same girl twice but I'm fairly young and have not been dating for that long. Generally the guy pays for everything, unless there is a dance that specifies the girl should pay. Group dates are also common, so there is not so much 1 on 1.
Marriage doesn't usually happen until you have dated someone for a long time. The age of marriage varies, but is generally around 22-27. Marriage before that is very uncommon since it is frowned upon by the LDS church, but once again people do what they want. My brother and sister got married at 19, but my parents and other sisters got married around 22-23 so it depends on if you meet the right person I guess.
Pre-marital sex is strongly discouraged by the LDS church so that also greatly affects dating and marriage. Also big families and marriage are encouraged, and by the time men are 21 and older they are encouraged to date and settle down. Marriage and family are considered very important so being single for to long is not normal. I guess my family isn't super large, we have 5 kids in our family, but I know others who have 7 or 10.
In all I think dating and dates here are pretty much like everywhere else in the U.S. Guys and girls hang out to have a good time and get to know each other. Some little things may vary from other cultures but the idea of it stays the same. People get married to settle down and create a family. I would love to learn about other cultures and how they date and marry. I learned a lot of things about myself that I didn't even think about because its so normal. The world may be a diverse place, but things like love and having a good time stay the same.

What Inspires me. Picture of Snow Canyon I got when I went there for spring break

My outfit for the day

My messy bedroom

Map of where I went Today

What I ate Today

My playlist Link goes to youtube

1 Breaking Benjamin-Diary of Jane

2 Killswitch Engage-My Curse

3 Skillet-Awake and Alive

4 A Day to Remember-Since You've Been Gone

5 The Lonely Island-Lazy Sunday

6 Rise Against-Help is on the Way

7 Keith Urban-Sweet Thing

8 Switchfoot-Dare You to Move

9 Snoop Dogg-Boom ft. T-Pain

10 Chris Brown-Look at Me Now ft. Busta Rhymes and Lil Wayne

Something that inspires me. Visited Snow Canyon over spring break and this is a picture.

My Facebook post one day.

Where I went today. Enjoy my map.

My messy bedroom.

This was my outfit for the day. The Photo wouldn't flip sorry.