Marriage

Marriage is optional in Harvest Moon: The Winds of Anthos, but you do have to complete specific requirements if you find that special someone to share a farmhouse with. There are 12 marriage candidates available to choose from: two of the candidates unlock via purchasing the Visitors from Afar DLC.

You can marry any available marriage candidates; they are not gender locked based on the chosen protagonist at the start of the game. You can only marry one person, and there isn't an option to divorce and marry someone else.

Several requirements must be met before you can get married:

Affection

Each marriage candidate has a closed flower bud on the left side of their name on the conversation dialog box and their entry in the Friends list inside the DocPad. The music on the right side of their name indicates their current affection status with you. As you talk to them, give them gifts, and complete their villager requests, the music note will fill in until it becomes a whole note.

screenshot

You must see a candidate's romance events to move on to the next music note. These events are small cut scenes that give background on their personalities and the small quirk that may need your guidance to become better people. After you see the romance event, the next music note will unlock for you to fill in again.

This pattern of note/event will continue until after you see a candidate's 5th music note event. At that point, you can continue the relationship or just be friends. Your choice is set by giving them a special gift crafted at the workbench inside your farmhouse. The item recipes will become available after seeing a marriage candidate's 5th romance event.

screenshot

If the recipe in your workbench is asking for a Solar Ray and a Rock Daisy, you need to update your copy of the game to use the latest patch. These recipe materials were adjusted to the simpler Red Rose and Sunflower, which was then added to the game via the day-one update.

There's no limit to the number of candidates you can give tokens to, and the tokens cannot be sold. It's up to you whether you want to give a Token of Love or a Token of Friendship, but you can only give one token to a person, and there are no do-overs. For example, if you hand over a Token of Friendship to Neil and decide later that you'd like to pursue a romantic relationship, you will never see a prompt to give him a Token of Love even if you have one in your bag inventory.

After you give a person a Token of Friendship, the flower bud next to their name will bloom into a happy sunflower. If you give a Token of Love, the flower bud will bloom into a red rose, and a 6th music note will be available to fill in. Platonic friends are limited to 5 music notes.

screenshot

The next step is to fill the 6th music note and see a 6th music note event. This special event is the date the marriage candidate hinted at when you gave them a Token of Love. You'll go to a scenic spot with a special meaning for the candidate, where they'll admit they've had feelings for you for some time and ask questions to get to know you better.

The last step is to fill in the 7th music note that unlocks after seeing the 6th music note event. There isn't a 7th music note romantic event.

House Remodel

screenshot

The entry-level blue-roof house needs a few upgrades before you can fit another person inside. Doc Jr. in Lectenbury can upgrade your house size.

The first upgrade appears in Doc Jr's inventory around the time you unlock access to the seaside town of Lilikala. However, I could be wrong (with the game just coming out, it might be another factor I didn't notice). The first farmhouse upgrade will require you to bring him 20 Board Lumber, 20 Square Lumber, 30 Glass, and 100,000 G. The lumber you can make using the workbench in your farmhouse by processing 3 Lumber into either a Board Lumber or a Square Lumber. The Glass is processed at any crafter shop, including Doc Jr's, by bringing the Raw Glass Gemstone and paying a small fee. The raw glass can be found randomly on any floor of the Lectenbury mine. This house will have a yellow roof of scalloped tiles.

The second house upgrade is available after you complete the first upgrade and Lectenbury has all 5 stars on its cultural level, or it might be because you solved the problems at Providence Village (I don't know for sure yet). This larger house with its orange roof requires 10 High-Quality Board Lumber, 10 High-Quality Square Lumber, 20 Bronze, and 150,000 G. The Bronze shouldn't be an issue for you at this point in the game, as the Raw Bronze Ore is in every mine in Anthos. It's the lumber that might be an issue.

Adrea at the crafter shop in Herbstburg can make High-Quality Board Lumber and High-Quality Square Lumber, but the materials required to make a single piece are rather extreme:

That's just not a fun time. You can make Board Lumber and Square Lumber yourself or buy them from the Herbstburg Tool Shop for 150 G each, and Walnut is simple enough to collect from the Walnut Trees in the Herbstburg region. It's the Lotus flower mutations that's the tricky part. I've only found Harvest Wisps that carry Lotus and Water Lotus, neither of which work for crafting High-Quality wood. Andrea only accepts Lullaby, Nirvana, Samsara, Mountain Lotus, Snow Queen, and Lava Lotus, and I have yet to find Harvest Wisps that carry those seeds.

(Still working on these. I've found Mountain Lotus when growing Lotus in the desert, and Snow Queen when growing Water Lotus in winter/Zimagrad)

It is easier to buy High-Quality Board Lumber and High-Quality Square Lumber from the Herbsburg tool shop, though they cost 2700 G a piece. The wall surrounding Herbstburg must be dissolved before the expensive wood appears in Lar's shop. To save money, keep an eye on your mailbox for a notice about an upcoming sale for his store.

The Blue Feather

screenshot

The citizens of Anthos traditionally use a feather from a bluebird to ask another to marry them. This feather symbolizes trust and affection. There is a bluebird that visits the Harvest Goddess Spring on clear nights between 7:00 pm and midnight; if you go then, you're sure to find a Blue Feather to use for your marriage proposal.

The Tiny Harvest Goddess will explain the local marriage traditions the morning after you've seen a marriage candidate's 6th music note event. This morning announcement must take place for the bird to appear at the spring.

Enticing the bluebird to visit the goddess' shrine requires you to have restored the spring to its former glory. Fixing up Harvest Goddess' home is done as you work through the game's plotline; basically, you need to complete the story before you can obtain a Blue Feather. You do NOT have to upgrade the house to get the Blue Feather, though you'll need to do so before handing the feather over to your sweetheart.

On a non-rainy, non-snowy, or non-stormy night, head to the Harvest Goddess Spring before 12:00 am to see if the bluebird is around. The little fellow will greet and give you one of its special Blue Feathers, then fly away. The Blue Feather will stay in the key items section of your rucksack and cannot be moved into storage or sold.

Proposal and Ceremony

Once you've filled in the 7th music note, the house has been upgraded twice to the orange-roof model, and you have the Blue Feather, you are ready to propose marriage. Walk up to the qualifying marriage candidate, and you'll be prompted to give them the Blue Feather. If you strike up a normal conversation instead, there's a missing marriage requirement.

screenshot

After the handover, you'll go to a special spot to continue the conversation. Your future partner will commit to being your spouse and then tell their family. The wedding will take place 1 week from the day you propose marriage. This date will be marked with a Blue Feather on your calendar in the DocPad. The wedding date can be the same as someone's birthday or festival day.

In the morning on the wedding day, your partner will visit your house. You both will be dressed in formal wedding attire. The men wear white tuxedos with corsages, and the women wear white wedding dresses with ribbon belts. The color of the corsage and ribbon is based on their town color:

DLC characeter Charlotte wears a mint ribbon with her wedding dress, while DLC character Jacques goes against the norm to wear a beige tuxedo with a pin-stripe vest. As the main character, your wedding attire color will be white with gray accents.

You don't have to collect materials to make the wedding attire and there's no option to choose the clothes for your wedding.

screenshot

After the pre-wedding chit-chat, you'll travel to Providence for the ceremony. Doctor Sinel of Zimagrad will act as the master-of-ceremonies. There will be vows exchanged, an off-screen kiss, and congratulatory commentary from several of the wedding guests. Even the adult-size Harvest Goddess sends her best wishes to the happy couple.

The wedding experience ends that same day at 10:00 am, leaving you with the rest of the day to tend to your crops and farm animals, participate in any festivals that were scheduled for that same day, or go shopping at the store scheduled to hold a discount sale. The wedding attire won't be added to the clothing closet options.

Post-Marriage

screenshot

Your spouse will now live with you in the farmhouse. They will sleep on the other half of the two-sided bed, spend a little bit of time inside the house in the morning, teleport to their home location, and then return home at night.

On the day of your wedding anniversary, including the day you married, walk inside the farmhouse after 9:00 pm to have a special dinner to commemorate the memorable day.

You can also have a child with your spouse.