I thank you for your kind reaction, and respect your choices as well. I just feel that this topic exists solely for traditional loyalists to bash everyone who doesn't conform to their views. Someone here mentioned "raised eyebrows" of neighbors who see an unmarried couple living together. Why do they need to "raise an eyebrow"? It's not their business.
I'll gladly "appear to be evil", if it means I have better knowledge and confidance about the major life-altering decision I'm about to make.
I can say from personal experience that living together before marriage prepares you for precisely NOTHING. We knew we were going to get married, and we had already made the emotional commitment...to a limited degree, as it turned out, but we didn't know it at the time. A legal and religiously valid marriage changes the relationship, I don't care how long you live together (or how long the "experiment" lasts), it's not the same. I can't explain it, but it's not the same.
I'm not here to bash anybody. I just happen to disagree with the premise that living together prepares couples for real marriage. You can learn to "live with" somebody by having a college roommate. Marriage is a whole 'nother level.
So, I don't recommend living together before marriage; yes, for religious reasons, but not the kind most people think of. Christian teachings have a practical side to them, you know. God knows us better than we know ourselves, and that's the reason He wants us to do some things and not to do others. It's just not practical. And don't think I'm bitter about it or anything. This year will see our 12th wedding anniversary, and we're still going strong. I just think living together beforehand didn't prove anything, and could have (and should have) been entirely dispensed with.