History Main / MarriageBeforeRomance

%%* This is the entire premise for the popular {{manhwa}} ''Manhwa/{{Goong}}''.

* Several Creator/BrandonSanderson books feature this. "Literature/WaxAndWayne" between Wax and Sterris, "Literature/Warbreaker" between Siri and the God king, and his first published work "Literature/Elantris" between Raoden and Sarene.

* Several Creator/BrandonSanderson books feature this.
** Literature/WaxAndWayne between Wax and Sterris
** Literature/Warbreaker between Siri and the God king
** Literature/Elantris between Raoden and Sarene.

* Several Creator/BrandonSanderson books feature this. Literature/WaxAndWayne between Wax and Sterris, Literature/Warbreaker between Siri and the God king, and Literature/Elantris between Raoden and Sarene.

* While all of Creator/JaneAusten 's heroines do end up marrying for love, but at the beginning of ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'' Charlotte Lucas does recommend this approach for Jane Bennet, stressing to Jane's sister Elizabeth that she should encourage Charles Bingley's attentions and get a proposal from him as soon as possible when he's most interested, even if she isn't yet sure that she loves him; they're both so amiable that love will surely flourish ''after'' their marriage. For her part, Elizabeth protests that Jane still hardly knows Bingley and has only had the chance to meet him on a few occasions thus far, and needs time to get to know him better.

* A certain subset of evangelical Christian fiction relies on this trope because it's written for a subculture where romantic relationships between unmarried people are strictly controlled and even things like kissing or being alone together are often forbidden. In order to allow a typical romance arc to play out, these books frequently come up with a device to marry the characters off first, allowing the writer to write said romance novel without having to worry about including things their target audience might see as inappropriate for an unmarried couple. For example, Janette Oke’s ''Love Comes Softly'' centers around a pregnant widow and a widower with a young child who enter into a MarriageOfConvenience so that she can be provided for and he can have someone to take care of his daughter (the story is set in the 1850s, a time when women were considered inherently better than men at caring for children), and it's only after they've been together for a few months that an actual relationship begins to develop between them.

* ''Series/The100'' fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10807881/1/A-Union A Union]]" opens with Clarke and Anya's first meeting on the bridge where Anya proposes that Clarke join her in a peace union, which Clarke only later learns is an actual marriage. Once Anya establishes that Clarke didn't know what she was agreeing to, they agree to maintain the appearance of an actual marriage for the sake of the alliance but acknowledge deeper feelings for each other by the time they escape from Mount Weather.

* MoonrakersBride by Creator/MadeleineBrent: The heroine enters a marriage of convenience with a man who's about to be executed; complications (and eventually romance) ensue when he's not executed after all.
* SarahPlainAndTall, a children's book published in 1985, later made into a movie and stage play, is about Sarah, a mail-order bride to a widower named Caleb who has two young children. Their courtship happens after they are already living as man and wife.
* In the novel PromisedLand by Creator/ConnieWillis and Cynthia Felice the main character, Delanna, returns to her home planet to inherit a large tract of land, but finds out that according to the planet's backward property laws, she has been legally married to her neighbor, and before she can divorce him, she must live together with him for one year. Rom-com ensues.

* The NeverVeil series is set in a cursed village where, upon puberty, every man is magically brainwashed into [[GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul "loving"]] a random woman. This explicitly has '''nothing''' to do with the feelings, compatibility, or consent of the people involved (the woman can technically refuse, but no other villager will ever be interested in her, and the rejected man will die of despair): it's more like a CosmicHorrorStory than any version of the [[OneTrueLove soulmate]] trope. In book 2 the curse is broken, and most couples eagerly [[note]]among the curse's downsides is that its victims ''cannot'' ever disobey their "goddess", even if she abuses them, or truly care about any other human being[[/note]] break up...but Elweard and Vena are still happy with each other (if in a different way than before), and get remarried within a day.

* In the MiniSeries ''Queen'', the plantation owner badgers his son about how it's time for him to find a wife. The son declares that he isn't certain if he loves the girl he's currently courting. The father finds the idea ludicrous, outright saying, "Love has nothing to do with it. It's about sons and land and honor.", then softens slightly, assuring him that he'll come to love the girl eventually, citing how he loves his wife dearly now even if he didn't when they first married.

* In their ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' backstories, Ashe the Frost Archer (Warmother of the Avarosan tribe of the Freljord) and Tryndamere the Barbarian King married to form a political alliance between their tribes as the first step in Ashe's ambition to peacefully unite the Freljord. While strictly an arranged marriage, the two have apparently grown at the very least fond of each other since then, although [[GameplayAndStorySegregation you won't find any of this story in LoL itself]].

* ''LightNovel/FateZero'': Irisviel and Kiritsugu are HappilyMarried, despite their union initially being part of the arrangement for Kiritsugu to work for the Einzbern family. Plus, they had a rather rocky start since Kiritsugu wasn't impressed with Iri at first, but once her father/creator cruelly rejected her, Kiritsugu [[RescueRomance rescued and nursed her back to health]], which is what made them grow closer and fall in love in the first place. Their relationship is even happier in the much more light-hearted ''Manga/FateKaleidLinerPrismaIllya''.

** [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfWindsor King George V]] of the United Kingdom - grandfather to UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen - married his brother Albert's fiancée Mary of Teck when Albert died of pneumonia. This marriage of convenience became a love match. Both parties were emotionally inarticulate and almost pathologically shy but communicated their mutual feelings in passionate letters and 'understood each other perfectly' as George wrote in one of them. They spawned one of England's most universally beloved monarchies - just about the only monarch seriously complained about from this dynasty is the rather selfish Edward VIII.

* Karolina and Xavin of ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' are really devoted to each other after they head off for the wedding.[[spoiler:Before Xavin got PutOnABus and Karolina ended up dating someone else]], that is.