Too many people (I think) put more of an emphasis on all the stuff leading UP TO the marriage than they do the actual marriage. The trend to do the elaborate proposals and engagements, party invitations, etc is fun, but it makes me wonder how many of those hours should have been spent on discussing issues that might come up during marriage.

I tell my boys...it might not be super romantic and exciting, but when you're talking about marrying someone, you need to be sure that you respect and like them enough to make the "intellectual" commitment to be with them. In any long marriage, there will be times you don't necessarily feel "in love", but you'll know that you love the person and will do whatever it takes to keep your marriage strong.