Questions about marriage and dating status

[subtle galleon]

As far as I know, player can date multiple marriage candidates without any downside...

1. But will their status change after the player decides to marry one of them? Like anyone who is not the player's spouse will turn from boyfriend/girlfriend back to be single again.

2.And if that is the case, will anyone who has not been given a locket be able to advance in the relationship from 8 hearts onward? Like locked heart progression will be unlocked automatically so the player can progress without having to do anything, or does the player need to give them lockets anyway for further progression?

Thank you in advance for any answer.

[heavy geyser]

Your relationships with other NPCs are not affected in any way by marrying one of them. You can still give lockets to all others and advance their romance. You just can't marry anyone else. Funnily enough, you can buy a ring and try to propose but the game tells you that "You need a bigger house before you can get married", implying that if only you had another room you could totally marry more than one person 😂
In my game, I'm married to Scott, he is at full 15 hearts and we have two babies, and I just gave a locket to Zarah and tried to propose to Theo who is at 10 hearts.