To get married in Stardew Valley, raise a single villager to 8 hearts, give them a Bouquet from Pierre’s shop, keep building the friendship to 10 hearts, upgrade your farmhouse once, then buy a Mermaid’s Pendant from the Old Mariner on a rainy day at the beach and give it to them. The wedding takes place three days after they accept.
This guide covers version 1.6.15 on PC and the matching 1.6.15.1 patch on Xbox, PlayStation and Switch, verified against ConcernedApe’s official patch notes. Below: who you can marry, every requirement and cost in order, and what 1.6 changed about married life.
Who You Can Marry in Stardew Valley
There are 12 marriage candidates, six bachelors and six bachelorettes, and you can marry any of them whatever your farmer’s gender:
- Bachelors: Alex, Elliott, Harvey, Sam, Sebastian and Shane
- Bachelorettes: Abigail, Emily, Haley, Leah, Maru and Penny
Everyone else can become a close friend, but not a spouse. The exception is Krobus, who can move in as a platonic roommate: per the community wiki, that takes 10 hearts with him and a Void Ghost Pendant from the Desert Trader.
More options are on the way. In his tenth-anniversary post on Steam, ConcernedApe said the 1.7 update is in development and that you will be able to marry Clint and Sandy. He gave no release date, so for now the 12 names above are the whole list.
Step 1: Raise Their Friendship to 8 Hearts
Each heart is 250 friendship points, tracked on the Social tab of your menu. The community wiki lists the main ways to earn them:
- Talk to them every day for 20 points.
- Give gifts. You can give each villager up to two gifts a week, plus a birthday gift. A loved gift is worth 80 points and a liked one 45, and birthday gifts count eight times over.
- Finish their delivery requests from the Help Wanted board for 150 points.
To give a gift, hold the item and press the action button while facing the villager: right-click on PC, A on Xbox and Switch, Cross on PlayStation. Clicking a name on the Social tab opens a gift log of their known tastes.
Marriage candidates stop at 8 hearts, with the last two greyed out until you show romantic interest.
Step 2: Give Them a Bouquet
The morning after you first reach 8 hearts with any candidate, Pierre mails you about the Bouquet. It costs 200g at Pierre’s General Store. Giving it changes their status on the Social tab to boyfriend or girlfriend and unlocks the last two hearts.
You can date more than one person, and nobody gets jealous before you propose. The catch, per the community wiki: date all six bachelors or all six bachelorettes and see each one’s 10-heart event, and a group scene leaves them all giving you the cold shoulder for about a week. To end a relationship, smelt a Bouquet with one Coal in a Furnace to make a Wilted Bouquet; giving it drops their friendship to 5 hearts.
Step 3: Upgrade the Farmhouse and Reach 10 Hearts
You need the first farmhouse upgrade from Robin at the Carpenter’s Shop: 10,000g and 450 Wood, with three days of construction. It adds a kitchen and a double bed.
Keep up the chats and gifts until you reach 10 hearts. Per the community wiki, a dating partner loses 10 points on any day you skip talking to them. The morning after you hit 10 hearts, Mayor Lewis writes to explain the Mermaid’s Pendant.
Step 4: Buy the Mermaid’s Pendant and Propose
The Old Mariner sells the Mermaid’s Pendant for 5,000g. Finding him is where most players get stuck:
- Open the east side of the beach. Repair the broken beach bridge with 300 Wood; he stands on the tide pools past it.
- Wait for rain. He appears only on rainy days, between 6am and 7pm; check the TV forecast the night before.
- Bring a Rain Totem in winter. Snow does not count, so in winter he appears only if you use a Rain Totem, and never during the Night Market.
- Meet his conditions. He sells only if you have 10 hearts with a candidate who accepted your Bouquet, a finished first house upgrade, and no spouse or roommate.
Give the pendant to your partner like any other gift. If they accept, the wedding happens in the morning three days later. Per the community wiki, it is pushed back if that day has a festival in town.
What Changes After the Wedding
Your spouse moves in and adds a personal room next to your bedroom. Their heart meter extends to 14 hearts, and a happy spouse will sometimes water crops, feed animals, repair fences or hand you breakfast. You can gift your spouse every day, and per the community wiki, about 12.5 hearts earns you a Stardrop.
Version 1.6 changed married life in a few ways, according to ConcernedApe’s official changelog:
- Spouses get a seven-day honeymoon after the wedding, so they will not spend a day sulking in bed.
- Friendship gain with your spouse is reduced by a third.
- Spouse Portraits can be bought once you reach 14 hearts.
- Male farmers are no longer forced into wedding clothes, so you pick your own outfit.
A spouse still loses 20 points on any day you skip talking to them, per the community wiki. Children need the second farmhouse upgrade, which 1.6 raised to 65,000g and 100 Hardwood. If things fall apart, a book in Mayor Lewis’s house files for divorce for 50,000g.
On PC, expansions such as Ridgeside Village add many more candidates; our best Stardew Valley mods list covers them. We also explain marriage in Paralives and The Sims 4, and our Fields of Mistria guides cover another cozy farm. Every guide for this game lives on our Stardew Valley hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you marry another player in Stardew Valley? Yes. In co-op, one player gives the other a Wedding Ring. Per the community wiki, the recipe costs 500g at the Traveling Cart, the ring takes 5 Iridium Bars and a Prismatic Shard, and the wedding follows three days after the other player accepts.
Can you get a Mermaid’s Pendant in winter? Only if you use a Rain Totem, because the Old Mariner appears only in rain and snow does not count. Per the community wiki, he also shows up during the summer Green Rain added in 1.6.
Is there a time limit to get married? No. The calendar keeps running year after year, so you can propose whenever your friendship and house are ready.
Can you date more than one person at a time? Yes, until you propose. Several Bouquets carry no penalty, apart from the group event described above. After the wedding, gifts to other candidates you have dated can make your spouse jealous.
Can you marry Krobus? Not exactly. He can move in as a roommate with a Void Ghost Pendant, and the arrangement works much like marriage, but there is no ceremony and you cannot have children with him.