All 12 Stardew Valley Marriage Candidates Ranked — Best Spouse Gifts & Perks
How Marriage Works in Stardew Valley
To marry any of the 12 eligible bachelors or bachelorettes, you must raise their friendship to 10 hearts, purchase a Mermaid's Pendant from the Old Mariner on a rainy day at the beach (5,000g), and give it to your chosen partner. After a 3-day engagement, you are married and they move into your farmhouse.
Once married, your spouse occupies a dedicated room in the farmhouse. They follow a daily schedule (some days they stay home, some they visit friends), occasionally leave gifts on a table in the kitchen, and offer occasional cooking services that restore your energy.
All spouses can be gifted items twice per week, and maintaining high friendship (14 hearts maximum post-marriage) keeps them happy and more likely to leave high-value gifts. Neglecting your spouse causes friendship to decay, resulting in fewer gifts and negative dialogue.
All 12 Marriage Candidates — Spouse Gifts & Perks
| Spouse | Loved Gifts (easy) | Notable Spouse Gifts | Unique Perk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harvey | Coffee, pickles, wine, truffle | Coffee (speed buff), salad, pizza | Frequently gifts Coffee — gives +1 Speed for 4 min, massively improves early-morning efficiency |
| Emily | Cloth, gems (amethyst, aquamarine, etc.) | Cloth, refined quartz, food | Occasionally gives free cloth, amethyst, and other gems — useful for the Loom |
| Leah | Salad, goat cheese, poppyseed muffin, wine, truffle | Salad, wine, food items | Artistic spouse room; wine and salad gifts are useful mid-game foods |
| Penny | Diamond, emerald, melon, poppyseed muffin, red plate, roots platter, sandfish, Tom Kha Soup | Home-cooked meals, Roots Platter | Homey aesthetic; Roots Platter boosts mining stats |
| Abigail | Amethyst, banana pudding, blackberry cobbler, chocolate cake, pufferfish, pumpkin, spicy eel | Fried calamari, spicy eel, other food | Spicy eel gift gives Luck and Speed buff — excellent for Skull Cavern days |
| Maru | Battery pack, cauliflower, diamond, gold bar, miner's treat, pepper poppers, strawberry | Pepper Poppers, bomb, food items | Occasionally gifts Bombs and Battery Packs — tangible resource savings |
| Sam | Cactus fruit, maple bar, pizza, tigerseye | Pizza, maple bar, other food | Fun personality; food gifts restore decent energy |
| Sebastian | Frozen tear, obsidian, pumpkin soup, sashimi, void egg | Pumpkin soup, sashimi, food | Pumpkin Soup gift gives +2 Defense and +2 Luck — good for combat days |
| Elliott | Crab cakes, duck feather, lobster, pomegranate, squid ink, wine | Crab cakes, duck feather, food | Refined taste; crab cakes give good energy and speed buff |
| Alex | Complete breakfast, salmon dinner | Salmon dinner, other food | Salmon Dinner gift gives +3 Fishing — situationally useful |
| Shane | Beer, hot pepper, pepper poppers, pizza | Pepper Poppers, pizza, hot pepper | Pepper Poppers give Mining buff; easy to befriend with beer |
| Haley | Coconut, fruit salad, pink cake, sunflower | Fruit salad, coconut, food | Fruit Salad gives moderate energy; Haley's spouse room features a dark room photography aesthetic |
Verdict: Harvey is generally rated the most practical spouse due to his frequent Coffee gifts, which give a speed boost that meaningfully increases your productive time each morning. Abigail (Spicy Eel) and Sebastian (Pumpkin Soup) follow for players who focus on the Skull Cavern. Maru is the most 'resource-efficient' spouse for bomb and battery pack savings.
How to Raise Friendship Quickly for Marriage
- Gift twice per week — each gift gives 80 friendship points for a liked gift, 250 for a loved gift. Loved gifts are the fastest path to 10 hearts.
- Talk daily — just walking up and pressing the action button gives 20 friendship points per day for each NPC.
- Complete Heart Events — these story scenes unlock at 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 hearts and require seeing each event to unlock marriage eligibility.
- Give a Bouquet at 8 hearts to change status from 'friend' to 'dating' — required before the Mermaid's Pendant proposal.
- Avoid gifting disliked or hated items — these cause significant friendship loss and can set you back many days.
- Use the Community Center Gathering and other social events to gain bonus friendship with multiple characters simultaneously.
Universal Loved Gifts (Work on All 12 Candidates)
| Item | How to Get | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Prismatic Shard | Skull Cavern (rare) | Loved by every NPC — but too rare to gift; save for Museum |
| Rabbit's Foot | Rabbit in Coop | Loved by almost all NPCs — Penny does not love it |
Post-Marriage Mechanics — Keeping Your Spouse Happy
After marriage, your spouse's friendship maximum increases to 14 hearts. Maintaining 12+ hearts ensures they leave gifts regularly and remain in good spirits. Friendship decays by 20 points per day if you do not interact with them, so make it a habit to greet your spouse and gift them twice weekly.
Your spouse will occasionally go on 'days off' and be absent from the farmhouse. On these days they visit friends in town — this is normal behavior, not a bug. They will still leave morning gifts regardless of whether they are home.
Divorce is possible by filling out paperwork at the Mayor's Manor. It costs 50,000g and removes the spouse from your farmhouse. You can remarry the same or a different person afterward. The Witch's Hut has a shrine to erase your ex-spouse's memory if you want to restore their friendship score.
Frequently asked questions
Can you marry multiple people in Stardew Valley?
No, not in single-player. You can only be married to one person at a time. In multiplayer, each player can independently marry their own NPC spouse. Divorce costs 50,000g and can be done at the Mayor's house.
What gifts do all marriage candidates love?
The Prismatic Shard is loved by every NPC in Stardew Valley. Rabbit's Foot is loved by almost everyone except Penny. For practical gifting, use each character's individual loved items — check their wiki page for a full list. Universal liked gifts include most Artisan goods and cooked food items.
Do spouse perks matter mechanically?
Yes, but moderately. The most impactful perks are Harvey's Coffee gifts (speed), Abigail's Spicy Eel (luck+speed), and Maru's Bombs and Battery Packs (resource savings). Most other spouse gifts are food items that restore energy and provide minor buffs. The perks are real but not game-breaking.
What happens after marriage? Does anything change?
Your spouse moves into your upgraded farmhouse and occupies a custom room. They follow a daily schedule, leave gifts occasionally, and can cook for you. Some spouse heart events continue post-marriage. Your spouse will also help with occasional farm tasks (watering crops, feeding animals) on some mornings.
Can you befriend Krobus instead of marrying someone?
Yes. Krobus can move into your farmhouse as a 'roommate' rather than a spouse, without a formal marriage. He provides unique gifts including Void Eggs and Strange Buns and occupies a special room. You cannot marry other NPCs while living with Krobus, but you can end the arrangement to marry someone else.
Sources & verification
Coloured pills follow our four-tier source policy.
- Stardew Valley editor verification — guide step validated against the live build — Editorial cross-check completed on 2026-05-17; sources below support the guide's key claims.
- Stardew Valley Wiki — Marriage
- Stardew Valley Wiki — Friendship
Continue this guide path
- ›Penny Gift Guide in Stardew Valley — Best Gifts to Max Hearts FastPenny is one of Stardew Valley's most popular marriage candidates. Knowing her loved gifts, schedule, and heart events is the fastest way to build friendship and unlock her storyline.
- ›Sebastian Gift Guide in Stardew Valley — How to Get Max HeartsSebastian is one of Stardew Valley's most popular marriage candidates, known for his brooding personality and love of frogs and motorcycles. Here's how to max hearts quickly with the best gifts.
- ›Emily Gift Guide in Stardew Valley — Loved, Liked & Disliked ItemsEmily is one of Stardew Valley's most colorful characters — a gem enthusiast, tailor, and dreamer who lives above the general store. Building friendship with Emily unlocks unique events and eventually marriage. Here is every gift she loves, likes, and dislikes.
- ›Friendship Mechanics in Stardew Valley — Hearts, Decay & EventsFriendship with Pelican Town's residents is one of Stardew Valley's most rewarding systems, unlocking heart events, recipes, gifts, and eventually marriage. This guide covers exactly how the friendship point system works, gift limits, decay rules, and how to build hearts efficiently.