Stardew Valley: The Marriage Guide — Bouquet, Mermaid's Pendant, Gifts, and Getting Ready for 1.7

Since the 10th-anniversary broadcast on February 26, 2026, we've known that Stardew Valley's 1.7 update will open up marriage to two new characters: Clint, the blacksmith, and Sandy, the manager of Calico Desert's Oasis. As of August 7, 2026, Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone still hasn't given a date, and the current version remains 1.6.15. In other words, the current romance system still has plenty of life left in it — and now is the perfect time to prepare your save file.

Because marriage isn't just a cutscene: a happy spouse waters your crops, feeds your animals, repairs your fences, and can even give you a Prismatic Shard, one of the most precious items in the game. Conversely, a neglected spouse loses friendship every day, without exception.

This guide covers the entire journey on 1.6.15: the exact friendship mechanics, gifts that work every time, the stages from bouquet to Mermaid's Pendant, married life, divorce — and what you should do right now to welcome Clint and Sandy under the best possible conditions.

Twelve marriage candidates, soon fourteen

The game currently features twelve marriage candidates, identified by the "single" label in the Friendship tab: six men (Alex, Elliott, Harvey, Sam, Sebastian, Shane) and six women (Abigail, Emily, Haley, Leah, Maru, Penny). All are available regardless of your farmer's gender.

Update 1.7 will bring this total to fourteen with Clint and Sandy, the first new candidates since the game's release. Barone has also promised "slightly more interesting" children, a new farm type, and more social content — with no date or release window given so far.

The friendship mechanic: 250 points per heart

Each heart on the meter is worth 250 friendship points. You earn points by talking to a villager once a day (+20, or +10 if they're mid-animation), by completing a delivery quest from the bulletin board (+150), and above all by giving gifts: +80 for a loved gift, +45 for a liked gift, +20 for a neutral one. A bad gift costs dearly: -20 if disliked, -40 if hated.

Two multipliers change everything: a gift given on the villager's birthday is worth eight times its value (640 points for a loved gift, or more than two and a half hearts at once), and the secret gift at the Feast of the Winter Star is worth five times its value. Quality also matters: +25% for a gold-quality item, +50% for iridium. Finally, the Flower Dance grants 250 points with your dance partner.

Watch out for decay: friendship drops every day without interaction. Here are the exact rates:

The standard limit is two gifts per week (the week resets on Sunday) and one per day — but the birthday gift always goes through, even if the quota has been reached.

The gifts that hit the mark every single time

Six items are universally loved and guarantee +80 points with any villager:

• Golden Pumpkin (Halloween reward);
• Rabbit's Foot — except for Penny, who dislikes it;
• Pearl;
• Prismatic Shard — except for Haley, who dislikes it;
• Magic Rock Candy;
• Starfruit Tea, a special case: it directly grants 250 points (750 on a birthday or at the Feast of the Winter Star) and doesn't count toward the weekly gift limit.

Day to day, the safe bets remain artisan goods (jams, wines, cheeses — except oil and Void Mayonnaise), cooked dishes, and flowers, all "universally loved" at +45. Individual tastes always take precedence over universal categories: check the villager's page before giving a rare item.

From the bouquet to the Mermaid's Pendant: the steps

A marriage candidate's meter caps at 8 hearts. The next morning, Pierre writes to you offering his bouquet, sold for 200g at the General Store. Giving it makes the villager your boyfriend or girlfriend and unlocks progress toward 10 hearts. You can give a bouquet to every candidate without a friendship penalty — but a 10-heart group event awaits if you're dating everyone at the same time, and your suitors will ignore you for a week.

At 10 hearts, Mayor Lewis writes to you in turn: it's time to buy the Mermaid's Pendant. Three prerequisites:

• having repaired the beach bridge (300 wood) to access the tide pools;
• having upgraded the farmhouse at least once;
• waiting for a rainy day: the Old Mariner only appears in rainy weather, beyond the bridge. He sells the pendant for 5,000g. In winter, it never rains — use a Rain Totem the day before to bring him out.

Give the pendant to the one you love: the ceremony takes place three days later, in the morning, on the town square (it's postponed if a festival falls on the same day). On the big day, the weather icon is replaced by a heart, and you resume your day at 6 a.m., married.

Married life: a 14-heart meter and a better-kept farm

Once married, your spouse moves to the farm, sets up a personal room to the right of the bedroom, and a unique garden behind the house. Their meter goes from 10 to 14 hearts (the French-language wiki still shows outdated values of 12 or 13 hearts; the English-language reference confirms 14). The weekly gift limit disappears for them: one gift per day, every day.

A happy spouse provides real help: free breakfast, animals fed, fences repaired, crops watered, the dog's or cat's bowl filled. At 12.5 hearts (3,125 points), they may give you a Starfruit as a token of love — only one per save file, don't sell it.

Two traps to know about. First, the -20 points per day decay never stops: talk to them and kiss them daily (the first kiss of the day costs a bit of energy). Second, jealousy: giving a gift to another candidate who has already accepted a bouquet from you, and who is the same gender as your spouse, triggers a 20 to 40% chance (depending on your daily luck) of losing 30 points and getting a sharp remark. The birthday gift, however, is always risk-free.

Divorce, memory wipe, and remarriage

Divorce is requested in the little book at the Mayor's Manor, for 50,000g. You can cancel until 10 PM the same day; after that, the spouse leaves for home the next morning, their friendship drops to zero, and they permanently refuse your gifts. The children stay on the farm.

To start fresh, the Witch's Hut offers two drastic services: erasing your ex's memory for 30,000g (which allows you to win them back), and turning the children into doves in exchange for a Prismatic Shard — a permanent removal, worth thinking twice about before clicking.

Getting ready for Clint and Sandy's arrival starting today

Clint and Sandy are already in the game, and nothing stops you from building up their friendship right now: as non-romanceable villagers, their meter climbs up to 10 hearts and never drops back down once full. When 1.7 arrives, you'll have a head start by the time you're ready to whip out the bouquet.

Concretely: talk to them every day, accept their delivery quests (+150), and give them safe universal gift picks — neither of them is among the exceptions to universally loved gifts. Note that Sandy doesn't benefit from the friendship effect of the Luau soup: for her, everything goes through visits to the Calico Desert and gifts.

One last planning tip: start stockpiling a few Prismatic Shards, Rabbit's Feet, and Starfruit Teas in a dedicated chest right now, and set aside 5,000g for the Mermaid Pendant. If you're playing a new save this summer, aim for 8 hearts with your favorites before winter: it's the season with no rain, so no Old Mariner, and you might as well spend it engaged rather than waiting around for a Rain Totem.