The Big Firsts
Think once you've locked lips with a new flame it will all soon become old hat? Rest assured - you still have some pretty major milestones left to navigate. We take you down the road of the most memorable firsts - big and small, lovely and infuriating - that you can expect to come across with your man.
PA PhotosFirst Flirt
Kissing gets all the glory, but flirting is just plain old fun, whether your relationship with the lucky recipient lasts for decades or just a couple heady butterflies-filled days. This is the time when you’re allowed to swoon and annoy your friends and ignore all signs of potential compatibility problems. Heaven.
Big PicturesFirst Phone Call
With half the world gone phone-o-phobe, and with texting, email, and Facebook right at our fingertips, an extended actual phone call means more than ever. Even the best of us get a bit ruffled by the thought of actually dialing someone’s number and filling the dead air with fascinating, yet casual conversation. And if the call goes just right, you might even regress and follow your hang up with a silly victory dance.
First Date
This is an obvious big step – you’re essentially on a relationship test drive and you’re both (hopefully) on your best behaviour. These things rarely go off without a hitch, though. Let’s just hope that some day you can both laugh about his failed attempt at old-fashioned chivalry or your near-fatal choking accident.
rex featuresFirst Morning After
Another test. Ideally, neither of you run away, make awkward excuses, or say anything resembling, “So, I had a lot of fun last night...” before trailing off into cliche hell. Hopefully, when you open your eyes, you think, “Yes...nice one.'
PA PhotosFirst Kiss/First Sex
Whether you enjoy these two very important firsts on the same night, or weeks apart, they’re both filling in a key part of the relationship equation – that little thing called chemistry. The newness of it all is undeniably exciting, and probably what you’ll start to yearn for once you’ve become comfortably settled with someone. So for your own sanity, try to remember that both the sex and the kissing probably get better with time.
Big PicturesFirst Sign Of Commitment
At some point, you’re going to realise you’re actually together as a couple. Whether you have a “where is this going?” talk, or manage to solidify your relationship in a less formal way (wardrobe space?) locking things down is a big step. Plus, once you’re allowed to call each other boyfriend and girlfriend, it makes it a whole lot easier to talk about him to other people.
First Secret Crush
Inevitably, at some point in a long-term relationship, someone else will catch your attention. There may be some batting of eyelashes involved, but you pass the fidelity test with flying colours, anyway. It’s not the most romantic first (we’d probably skip the greeting card on this one), but it’s one to celebrate nonetheless.
rex featuresFirst Introductions
Everyone knows that technically it only matters if you like him, and blah blah blah. Admit it though, weren’t you terrified that your friends wouldn’t like him, and elated when they said they did? Of course, you want to get to know his friends, too, and get a sense of how he treats you when his buddies are around.
WENNFirst Grocery Shop
Glamorous it’s not, but hitting up the local Tesco is one of those completely boring tasks that takes on new meaning when you’re with someone you really like. As you cruise the aisles for your favourite breakfast cereals and discuss what “we’re” having for dinner tonight, you get a little glimpse of what a future with this man might look like. It’s the grown-up version of playing house.
Rex FeaturesFirst Trip
Jetting off for a holiday, just the two of you, could be wildly sexy and romantic. It could also make you want to kill him. Either way, you’ll remember it forever.
Big PicturesFirst Pet
We’ll be the first to admit, babies aren’t for everyone. But lots of couples choose to indulge their nesting instincts with a pet. Just remember to agree on who “officially” owns the critter, as a bit of an unofficial pre-nup. If necessary, you can pretend you just want to make sure you agree on who takes responsibility for pet chores, but really, you’ve got to make sure that you don’t have to deal with a weird, furry custody battle if the relationship goes bad.
Rex FeaturesFirst 'We'
Suddenly, “we” like Lebanese food, “we” love to work out, and “we” have strong opinions on the iPad. You’re deliriously in love, everyone around you is tired of hearing about your endlessly shared opinions and activities. Whatever.
PA PhotosFirst Three Little Words
Saying “I love you” is fabulous. Hearing it back is pretty good, too. And thank goodness you can stop all that ridiculous talk about enjoying spending time together or really liking each other a lot or other non-L-word expressions of affection.
rex featuresFirst Bank Account
Forget all that lovey-dovey stuff. Sharing a bank account means trust and long-term planning and sharing your money. If that’s not commitment, then what is?
Rex FeaturesFirst Break-up And Reunion
No one wants to be that annoying on-off couple, but many happy pairs have been through that one “off,” and lived to tell the tale. It doesn’t mean that your relationship necessarily means less than those of people who have only fantasised about breaking up with their significant other.
Rex FeaturesFirst 'Our Place'
People always talk about compromise in relationships, and you’ll get plenty of chances to test that skill once you’re sharing the same roof with a man. Suddenly, you both have to negotiate the most basic routines of life, from which way the toilet roll hangs to who should take on the responsibility of hoovering once a week (hint: it’s him).
First Present
If you’re crazy about this man, you’re probably going to love any gift he gives you, be it a standard flower bouquet or an acrylic sweater that’s three sizes too big. But if he does manage to hit the nail on the head with a gift that’s perfectly tailored to your taste and personality, he deserves major brownie points.
PAFirst Photo Op
You’re kind of squinting and he’s wearing a shirt that he got for free at a pub. It may not be the red carpet, but it’s adorable. You needed a new desktop photo, anyway.
rex featuresFirst Parent Meeting
Unless you’ve got the coolest, most laid-back parents on earth, you’re probably going to feel a bit nervous about introducing them to your new beau, and he probably feels the same. So take comfort in the fact that you wouldn’t even be going through the trouble if he wasn’t so important to you. Plus, you have that other milestone to look forward to – the time when you can feel comfortable leaving him alone with your parents. Don’t know what he talks about with your dad, don’t wanna know.
rex featuresFirst Fight
All couples fight, but it’s how you do it that counts. If your relationship has staying power, you should both be able to fight fair and even work up the courage to apologise if you’ve done wrong. Once you clear that hurdle, you know that the two of you are actually able to work through your differences (because, let’s face it, you simply aren’t going to find someone who agrees with you on everything).
PA PhotosFirst Anniversary
A year together is no longer the “forever” it may have seemed like back in your teens, but it’s still often seen as a sign that your relationship has long-term potential (and somewhat unfairly, you’re unlikely to get much break-up sympathy if you don’t make it past the one-year mark). Many of us unmarried folk use different markers as a sign of a relationship’s beginning, be it the first date, kiss, or time in the sack. And we’ve always wondered, do couples who have gone the matrimony route give up their “original” anniversary?
rex featuresFirst Psychic Connection
You say, “Oh, the thing!” And he says, “We’ll do it tomorrow.” This actually happens – a U.S. study found that while couples don’t exactly read each others’ thoughts, their brains do eventually sync up, resulting in a special language that depends less on typical sentence structure and more on these shared brain patterns.
PA PhotosFirst Matching Outfits
You know that thing about pets and their owners looking alike? Yeah, it’s even less cute with two human beings, but it will happen by accident at some point. Avoid this whenever possible – even if it means you have to draw up a schedule to rotate your eerily-similar denim jackets or striped scarves.
Bigpicturesphoto.comFirst Challenge
When one of you has to go through something terrible, the other one has a chance to show that they can really support the other person. It’s awful, but it shows that the two of you can weather the storms of real life together.
WennFirst Forever Talk
Wedding ring or no, babies or cocker spaniels – when you laugh about what a funny old couple you’ll be or talk about whether you think there really will be flying cars in 50 years (“and more importantly, can we afford one?”), it’s pretty cool that you both take it for granted that you’ll still be together, without blinking an eye.
