Life on the farm isn’t all about planting and harvesting crops all year round. Even though you have a pet, it can sometimes be lonely while tending to your farm’s animals and plants. But know that you can get married in Stardew Valley to help fill the void in your character’s heart (and even complete some of your more tedious tasks).

How to Get Married in Stardew Valley

Every new player in Stardew Valley starts as a bachelor or bachelorette. But the game is also home to 12 NPCs (six bachelors and six bachelorettes) that you can marry. However, you can’t simply walk up to them and ask for them to become your partner for life. First, you'll need to form a relationship. Note that the basic requirements for an NPC to become married in Stardew Valley are:

• You and the NPC must be a couple, and
• The NPC must have a 10-heart friendship level

As for the marriable NPCs in vanilla Stardew Valley, they include the following characters:

• Alex
• Elliot
• Harvey
• Sam
• Shane
• Sebastian
• Abigail
• Haley
• Leah
• Maru
• Emily
• Penny

Each NPC has a unique personality, which also dictates their loves, likes, dislikes, and hates regarding gifts.

Becoming a Couple in Stardew Valley

Every NPC in Stardew Valley will have an 8-heart friendship level at the beginning of the game. Start creating your unique love story by talking with these characters. Once you become a couple, two additional heart levels appear, and another two after getting married. Note: Some NPCs may come off as annoying, obnoxious, or rude at the beginning. But increasing their friendship levels will let you hear more of their stories and why they stuck with their personalities. Stardew Valley players can increase their friendship levels with NPCs by doing various tasks with them. But the primary method of increasing friendship levels is through gift giving. The game has universally liked gifts, which means you can’t go wrong with giving these items to NPCs (most of the time). However, some NPCs will still negatively react if you give them some of these universally liked presents. With enough time, patience, and perseverance, you can reach an 8-heart friendship level with your preferred NPC. At this point, you can ask them to become your boyfriend or girlfriend. Complete this objective by buying a bouquet from Pierre’s store. Give this item to your chosen NPC, and watch as they reciprocate your feelings. Warning: Dating multiple boyfriends or girlfriends in Stardew Valley is possible but can reduce friendship levels if you’re caught.

Proposing in Stardew Valley

Continue staying true to your Stardew Valley boyfriend or girlfriend, and you should eventually reach a 10-heart friendship level with them. At this point, you can buy a Mermaid Pendant from the Old Mariner for 5,000 gold pieces. Note that the farmhouse should have at least one upgrade for the marriage proposal to proceed. If your chosen NPC would like to become your lifetime partner, they’ll say “Yes” to your proposal. Then, the wedding ceremony will take place three days after the proposal. But if the wedding day falls on an event, the momentous occasion will be on the next day after that instance.

The Stardew Valley Married Life

Once married life begins, your spouse can start helping with farm chores, such as watering crops or feeding livestock. Bear in mind that not every husband or wife will find the farm life appealing. For instance, some NPCs would rather laze around the farmhouse. Nonetheless, your in-game spouse will oftentimes give you presents. These gifts range from food to valuable resources. Also, since the flow of time in Stardew Valley is different as compared to the real world, you and your spouse will never grow old, wither, and die. But your love can still bear fruit by trying for a child. However, your offspring will only grow up to his or her toddler years and will remain at that stage permanently.

How to Divorce in Stardew Valley

If you think life with your spouse isn’t working out, you can get a divorce in Stardew Valley (introduced in version 1.1). Go to the Mayor’s Manor to find a book that’ll allow you to file for it. After paying the 50,000 gold fee, you can still revoke the decision within the day. If not, your spouse and their room will disappear the next day. Plus, that NPC’s friendship level will return to zero, and they’ll now have “Ex” under their name when looking at them through your friendship status screen. Warning: Divorcing your spouse will create negative interactions with them. Also, that NPC won’t accept any of your gifts, making it more challenging than normal to increase their friendship level again.