Couple with 34-year age gap divide followers with strict non-negotiable relationship rules

A couple with a 34-year age gap have hit back at 'everyone's saying our marriage is too strict'.

South Carolina couple Gracen Greagan, 26, and Kevin Greagan, 60, first met four and a half years ago at a steakhouse in Greenville.

After Gracen took an interest in Kevin's kids, Kevin started to go in more regularly by himself and the pair decided to see each other outside of work.

They got married in November 2025 and have been opening up about their relationship on the TikTok page @gracenfaithg.

In a recent video, they said their 'non-negotiables' consist of never drinking alcohol without each other and that they pray together daily.

“Something we’ve implemented in our marriage is that we pray together every single night… It’s the last thing we do,” they said.

“Regardless of your faith, the intentionality that goes into expressing gratitude… it’s a great way to centre ourselves together and individually.”

“There’s a vulnerability in drinking and being intoxicated, and that’s not something I wanna be without my partner present,” Kevin added.

Addressing comments about being 'over controlling', Gracen clarified that 'we never called them rules'.

"We just have feature on UNILAD and everyone's saying our marriage is too strict. Let's talk about it," she said.

"Nobody told us to do that or forced us to. That's just what we chose."

Kevin also said: "One of our non negotiables is that we don't drink without each other and that seemed pretty controversial because people felt like or feel like it's super controlling.

"To us it's not about restriction. It's just about not putting ourselves in a place where we're vulnerable without each other.

We don't choose to do that."

"The bottom line, I think people hear 'rules' and they think 'control'," he added.

"We hear 'clarity' and we think 'alignment'."

"It's not for everybody, but it works for us. So you do you, we'll do us," Gracen said.

In the comments, some took issue with their relationship dynamic, with one person saying: "I love having a glass of wine with my my close girlfriends. I couldn’t imagine having to decline because I won’t drink without my husband."

Another penned: "I can’t imagine me in my 30s thinking my soulmate isn’t even born yet."

Others, meanwhile, said they take a similar approach in their own marriage, with a third person writing: "I don’t ever drink without my husband. Why would I? I agree. And I’m safe with him!!"

"It’s about respect for your partner good for y’all," someone else said.

Relationship expert Beck Thompson added to news.com.au that there isn't anything fundamentally wrong with their rules.

“Praying together, not keeping score, showing up with kindness even when you’re in conflict – these are things I encourage in my own clients,” the head coach at the Relationship Circle said.

“The issue isn’t the rules themselves, it’s the language around them. The moment you call something a ‘non-negotiable rule’ in a relationship, it shifts the tone from connection to compliance. Healthy couples tend to arrive at these things naturally, not announce them like a contract.

“On the surface, choosing not to drink alone sounds like a boundaries conversation. But when you’re pre-emptively defending it to the internet before anyone’s even asked, that’s worth paying attention to.”