In Stardew Valley, any villager who is given the “single” label is a candidate for marriage later in the game. In order to marry someone, players need to earn ten hearts with the character by giving them a bouquet, then present them with a Mermaid Pendant to propose marriage. Once married to the player, a villager will stay inside the farmhouse and do various chores and provide the player with gifts.

There are currently twelve marriage candidates in the game, with six bachelors and six bachelorettes. Technically, Krobus is a secret thirteenth option, but instead of becoming a spouse, he can become a platonic roommate. What you may not know is that if certain events had happened differently, the marriage candidate list may not have been the one we know today.

ConcernedApe Ran A Poll To Determine Stardew Valley Marriage Candidates

Emily And Shane Were Added As Romance Options Due To Popular Vote

In April 2016, ConcernedApe ran two polls on X (formerly Twitter) to decide on a new bachelor and bachelorette in Stardew Valley. The winners were Emily and Shane, who have since been updated and can now be married by players. A lot of fans are dumbfounded that Shane was chosen over beloved characters such as Linus and Rasmodius, and if the votes happened today, then there may have been more uproar for a wizard romance in the valley.

Possible Marriage Candidates from ConcernedApe's 2016 Poll

• Emily (Winner)
• Marnie
• Sandy
• Pam
• Shane (Winner)
• Linus
• Clint
• Wizard/Rasmodius

On a surface level, it’s pretty easy to dislike Shane, though I can understand the trope of having someone better themselves for you is quite appealing, and as a marriage candidate in Stardew Valley, I like that more players can explore his softer side. Linus is a bit of a hit or miss - he clearly doesn’t want to stay on the farm, so marriage may not be the best ending for him - he’s a fantastic friend, though. However, it’s still quite funny that the Stardew Valley Community collectively decided that they would rather marry an alcoholic than a wizard.

Emily Is A Great Bachelorette, But I Think Marnie Had A Lot More Potential

Emily Is The Obvious Choice, But There's Some Great Story Possibilities For The Candidates We Didn't Get

When it comes to the bachelorettes, I think Emily makes the most sense as a marriage candidate - even now, I feel like she’s still quite underrated as a character, and she has a very fun personality. Despite this, she isn’t the option I would have chosen. I barely see anyone in the community talk about the bachelorette poll, and I think we were robbed of some amazing possibilities.

Although Shane does work on bettering himself in his heart events, some players feel like he regresses back into his old self when married, which highlights the grim reality that the player's love isn't a cure for his issues.

I really like the idea of Marnie being a bachelorette. It would be interesting to see how ConcernedApe would handle a romance with older characters, though the farmer doesn’t have an exact age, so players can flavor their playthrough however they’d like. Fans seem to be conflicted about whether Marnie’s secret affair with Mayor Lewis is healthy or not, and if the latter is true, then I’d like to see her be able to get into a loving relationship. I also think Marnie would be quite suited to farm life, given how she runs her own ranch.

Pam being a marriage candidate could make for some hilarious stories, since her daughter Penny is also a marriage option. I think the other villagers in the poll were better options, though I do find it interesting how there was so much love for Shane but barely any for Pam, as she could follow a similar arc of learning to better herself for the sake of the player - and hopefully her daughter. The fact that she was on the poll at all suggests ConcernedApe had something in mind for her, and I’m very curious to know what.

Sandy Deserves Some More Development In Stardew Valley

A Romance Which Can Only Be Initiated In The Later Game Could Add More Variety To The Bachelorettes

Looking at the results we ended up with, I’m amazed that more people didn’t feel the need to vote for Sandy, and it seems like players like Reddit propernice would agree. Romancing someone who doesn’t live in Pelican Town could have been really fun - she would probably still have to run her store, so I wonder if she would leave notes or little gifts for the player before she heads off to work in the morning. We don’t know a lot about Sandy, so I’d be interested to see a scenario where she opens up to the player.

We don’t even know Sandy’s real name - I would like to think that if the player were to romance her, she would reveal it to them. I can see it being something silly, or maybe she has a darker reason for changing her name. I’d love to know more about her backstory, particularly her friendship with Emily or what she knows about Mr Qi. I enjoy having Shane and Emily as marriage candidates, but I can’t help but wonder what Stardew Valley could’ve looked like with a slightly different set of bachelors and bachelorettes.

Source: ConcerpedApe's Bachelor Poll/X, ConcernedApe's Bachelorette Poll/X (Formerly Twitter), propernice/Reddit