Everyone expected my husband and me to merge our friend groups. We never did.

My husband and I having separate friend groups has been great for our marriage.

Maria Polansky My husband and I have been married for five years, yet I've only met his friends a handful of times.

Starting in a long-distance relationship set the precedent for us to have separate social circles.

Having separate friends helps us pursue our different interests and keeps our marriage exciting.

About a month ago, my husband took off for the weekend to celebrate his best friend's birthday without me.

He didn't expect me to accompany him, nor was I sad at the thought of not joining him.

In fact, I'd already made my own weekend plans, including dinner with a friend that my husband hasn't even met.

Even though we've been together for eight years and married for five, I can count the number of times I've met most of his friends on my hand.

Although many couples merge friend groups , we've mostly kept ours separate.

It's not that we don't like each other's friends — we do, and we occasionally go on couple dates or have group hangs.

However, our backgrounds and personal preferences have fostered a dynamic that encourages us to spend our time with companions on our own.

It's been this way from the start, and we have no desire to change it.

Starting out long-distance set the precedent for separate friend groups My friend groups never really intersect with my husband's, especially since we started out in a long-distance relationship.

Maria Polansky My husband and I were friends before we started dating , but we didn't come from the same social circles, so there was a natural distance between us from the very beginning.