What is your experience with and opinion of saying "I love you" first?

Man I just don’t know how to word this question, so hopefully I can clear it up with some details. Basically I am bursting to tell the fellow in my life that I love him. I really do. This is not over night, or infatuation, or anything crazy soon or potentially unwarranted. I feel love is a word with a meaning that changes as you change as a person and I feel that I’ve loved two people so far in my life in an “in love” type of way. They have both been boyfriends that I’ve dated for years but I can’t remember the first time we said the words to each other. I know it’s a beautiful feeling and one that is so great because it only happens every so often. At least for me. But, there is something about vulnerability, of course, that keeps one from saying it, or it has at least kept me from saying it. I love him, I really do. But I haven’t said it yet. I feel like I know that he is bursting at the seams and wanting to tell me too, but hey it’s scary to put yourself out there like that in the off chance that that shit isn’t mutual. Um, so I guess my question is, should I just tell him? Is there any conceivable reason you can think of that I should not? It is LOVE after all and the world could use more of it!

I also am curious about your experience and if you have any particular “I love you”‘s that stand out in your life. Or maybe just your opinion of the phrase in general.