What is the difference between BF/GF, fiance, and husband/wife to you?

[Lancaster4201]

I know the difference in that they are dating, engaged, and married respectively, but what does that mean for your relationship?

What privileges do each of those stages have? Can BF/GF get handsy to you, but you will not have sex with them until you are married? Will you go all the way when dating, but you won't do something specific?

What responsibilities does each stage have compared to the other?

Do you feel like the fiance is basically a bf/gf with more commitment leading to even more commitment?

[CreativeMumble]

For me, it shows how serious you are in the other person.
Girlfriend and boyfriend, you can always jump off, you're not ensuring the other person that the relationship is necessary for life.
Engagement is the stepping stone to getting married, the introduction to complete commitment.
Marriage is commitment.

I guess you can see it this way.
When you are in a relationship, it's a trial, to getting married. Or (if you don't believe in marriage), the deepest form of commitment. You try each other out, see if it fits. Learn about one another, until you hopefully find the one to stay together with.

[BralorGrifton]

BF/GF is pretty much that stage where both parties are getting to know one another, see if they're compatable and see how well they work together. Engaged is taking another step in cementing that relationship and them both agreeing that "Yes, I want to be with you forever". Marriage is that final stage where two people who started off as complete strangers finally formed a family together

[wolverine101]

BF/GF seems to cover such a wide range of relationships to be rather meaningless as a title. People might consider themselves as BF/GF after dating for a few weeks while others have been living together for years, have a couple of kids together and still call themselves BF/GF. So BF/GF probably would be best considered as describing a journey together rather than a type of relationship.

[MiamiMadness]

A marriage certificate

[Lancaster4201]

So for your relationships there is nothing that separates a gf/bf from a spouse even if it is just for you and no one else?

[MiamiMadness]

I mean it just depends I guess how serious the bf/gf relationship is. If you are more traditional in that you wait to have sex and live together until married, then you're relationship is going to change dramatically when you do get married. Feelings wise, it comes down too how long you've been together but I don't think when you're married everything automatically changes unless you make it that way.