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College, career, cash flow -- those who have waited have some great excuses for putting off ever tying the knot. Whether those reasons are valid or not, those who have used them have plenty of company.
"We'd rather be single than dating guys that aren't worth our time," said one woman in Minneapolis out with a few of her girlfriends.
Sociologists have noted a clear trend: women are waiting longer before getting married. Some even push their social abstinence into the realm of dating, as they hold out for perfection. Experts stress there are valid reasons to wait.
"The younger a couple is when they get married, the higher their chances of divorce," said Dr. John Friel, psychologist and author.
Friel said waiting until age 25 or 30 is a valuable investment in maturity.
"If you take that group as a subgroup, their divorce rate is much lower because they have the sense of self and identity to be able to be in an intimate relationship," he said.
While some men may find this trend towards holding off on marriage cold, the strategy may lead to a more enduring sense of warmth. And men also profess to be on a quest for something deeper.
"We really would like to hang out with good people and have a good time with them. But you want to find somebody that is somewhat in the same path that you are," said one man in a Minneapolis hangout.
Family counselor Dr. Richelle Moen Moore also thinks waiting brings wisdom, but warns if time drags, on you may find yourself pushed by a biological clock.
"I think what can happen there is, women in particular in terms of child bearing, is that they can delay and then have some urgency getting into a relationship," she said.
Of course all of this assumes everyone wants to be paired up. Sometimes remaining single is a manageable life choice.
Last month, a New York Times article concluded that for the first time ever there were more single women than married ones in the U.S. That report has since been discredited because, to get the 51 percent single figure, it included millions of high school girls, military wives and widows in the survey.
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