I started off with my couple (River McIrish-Chikamori and Haruo Chikamori) as teenagers with a text backstory stating that they met as toddlers.
What was really nice in my choice of couple was that they immediately got hearts for one another.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-glWRFFOriNI/WdfTUGEWD1I/AAAAAAAADVk/zi4fNVA0pGID9Se9glOlXROGkBzoGND3ACLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot-13.jpg
and now they're married with four kids and adopted Haruo's uncle's son so that they could raise him right. (His uncle has the Party-Animal trait and his mother is a slob - boy I sound nice...but well...those are their actual traits, The mother is a pre-made (Molly French)).
I generally build my own houses and invariably they end up big.
https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lDXuWmFQi-0/Wjq2KJB2g6I/AAAAAAAAIGQ/wqsI_NwyWuwu5Ivl0luYgQ3uvoQj5VXjQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screenshot-100.jpg
I also play epic lifespans (over 1400 days), which gives me lots of times with my Sims.
As in a typical Asian family, I also have Haruo's father and River's mother living with them. I call them the Pre-Founder Generation.
Sometimes I make a single sim start from absolutely nothing (binning for a living; no jobs allowed); families I usually give a helping hand (I see too much of the scraping by in real life; so if I'm going to escape and enjoy myself, I'm going to make sure that my sims have a comfortable existence).