That's a really good question. Many people say they just "knew" and never elaborate on that. I think part of the reason, is for some that's they only way they can describe it. My Dad always describes loving my Mom as "magic". It's something intangible, but yet you feel it so deeply in your spirit that you know it's true. I never could understand that. I loved the concept of it, but it seemed so foreign to me, and then I met DF, and while my head didn't know, my heart did. That's the only way I can honestly describe it. But I'll try a little harder to tell you how I "knew"
I was a single Mom when I met DF, and I had been a single Mom for 6 1/2 years. My only experience of living with a partner was with my son's Dad while I was pregnant and for the first few months after that. And it was not a pleasant experience. Though, to be fair, I think it was mainly that we both too young to understand how to properly communicate.
When I first met DF, I was in school, and my Dad introduced us because he thought I could alot from DF. I'll never forget that first meeting. I felt so awkward, so nervous. It was instantaneous. I walked into the store feeling confident, sure of myself, and then our eyes met and I was plunged into insecurity, and all that other wonderful stuff. At the time, I just figured it was because I didn't want to look foolish in front of someone who was working in the field I was training to be in. A couple months went by, I saw him occasionally during the first half of my practicum, and then my Dad told me he had arranged for me to finish my practicum with the company DF worked for, and that DF would sort of be over seeing my work, walking me through everything and so on. I spent the first week using all my will power to focus solely on the work. I felt like I was going to be sick every day, that's how bad the nerves were. And then, that first weekend DF called and asked if I wanted to come to the shop with my son, and help get some of the work caught up, and I went, and a friendship of sorts started. By the end of the second week we had talked alot after work hours, and the friendship started blooming, and by the end of the third week we were dating, and all my nerves left me.
We basically skipped most of the usual steps and practically moved in together right away. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world. My son loved having him around, and we usually got together after work at my place for dinner. We lived on opposite ends of town, and after a few nights it just seemed easier for him to crash at my place, instead of coming for dinner, staying for a while, then going home, only to come all the way back in the morning to pick me up, to go back to his end of town where work was.
Officially, he was completely moved in to my place after a month and a half. And this is how I knew. I had no trouble orienting my routines around his. I had no trouble dealing with having another adult sharing my space, and I really didn't mind when he would offer his opinion on how to deal with certain behavior issues my son was having. (he went through a stage where he'd get mad at me and hit out at me, something no-one liked)
I understand what my Dad meant by "magic" it really is something magical. Df and I can sit in the same room, for hours, and not speak a word, and yet feel connected and contented. Knowing is being able to get mad at the situation, not the person. It's not being able to imagine life without that person, when the very thought makes your heart and soul ache, and you want to weep at the despair you know that would bring. Knowing is being able to see the other persons point of view, to understand it, and yet be comfortable disagreeing with. Knowing is being able to compromise without thinking of it as a sacrifice. It's intuitively knowing what the other person needs and giving it to them.
Knowing is a feeling of rightness, a feeling of belonging, and feeling it in every fibre of your being. With DF I found a feeling of completeness, holes in my heart were filled, and I hadn't even known they were there. I can be who I am, no pretenses, no pretending, I can honestly and authentically be me, good, bad, ugly, pretty ... and I know that he will still love and accept me.
There is no right or wrong way to know, it just happens. And it may not happen right away, or it could happen in the first instant. But when it does happen ... (pardon the pun) ... you'll "know"
Weddings 
