Great article. I really enjoyed it.

Great list of suggestions. To that, I'd add: make sure your guests can get home (theirs or someone else's) safely. My wedding was about an hour outside of Washington, DC - every mile away from town saved us 50 bucks on the venue. I was concerned about people being too nervous about consumption to cut loose, or losing track of their consumption and letting them loose on the roads afterward. My wife and I are fortunate enough that we could afford to hire a bus to get people to and from the hotel. (They cut us a deal because I hired the getaway limo from the same outfit.) Other options are to have your ceremony (or at least the reception) near public transit, or have guests stay at a hotel with shuttle service.

Also, tip the wait staff, florists, everybody, and tip them well. They're having to watch you party on a Saturday night, do the bulk of the heavy lifting to make it happen, and then deal with the detritus. That may have been you, and someday could be your kids.

Re the first: Teenagers shouldn't get married. Because they have very little adult life under their belts, by definition. That said, my grandparents did and it worked. And the current odds are kind of on a par with the twice divorced managing to make the third time work: less than 50/50, but loads of people manage it.

Once you pass 20, the odds of a first marriage lasting even out, statistically speaking. Waiting until you're 40 doesn't build in some sort of guarantee: the 22 year olds are dealing with not having lived on their own before pairing off, and the 42 year olds with having lived on their own without needing to adapt to someone else's desires for 20 years: they have the same odds of getting it to work. (I think the "young marriages doomed" thing for people who marry under 30 or 35 persists because it's such a great no-fault explanation: time fixes being young.)

People change a lot in their 20s, and they change a lot before and after, too. There is no magic age (current age plus five) at which your adult personality will lock into place. (At which point you will join your life with someone else's, make life-altering career and location decisions based on that, and have some kids, none of which will at all impact you because: grown-up.

The illustration looks like Megan Seling.

Sarah! This article is perfect, especially the last paragraph. Weddings are best when they are about the two people being married, rather than what everyone thinks a wedding should be.

Thank you so much for coming to ours, and for including us in this article. I feel so lucky to remember it all over again.

FYI: there is nothing more fun than being drunk and newly married after-hours in the Seattle Aquarium. I highly suggest this. We saved a shitload on decorations and it entertained adults and kids alike.

I was expecting to see something eye-opening or new here, as I'm planning a wedding for a few months from now, but you've basically just rehashed tips that are available anywhere else on the web. I really hope you didn't get paid for this.

@8 There actually is a whole section of new "magical" wedding tips that have never ever been printed anywhere on the entire internet in this article - but because they're magical they are automatically hidden from douchebags like you.

@8 Man, your wedding sounds like its going to be a hoot and a half

Great article. One thought: A missed opportunity for a corrected song title and a hometown shout-out to Sir MixALot. But it's true. "Baby Got Back" makes every most-requested-wedding-reception-song list out there, according to Google.

Great article! We loved having you celebrate with us and love the references to our perfect day! You have an open invitation once it gets warm again! D&R

When I was part of the marriage-industrial complex, I had a little speech I used to give couples, especially if they were young (and I started out doing weddings in Iowa City, where everyone was young).

I'd tell them that everyone will tell you your wedding day will be the happiest day of your life, but in reality, it will probably be very stressful. The happiest days will be the days that come after (yes, it was sappy, but I felt like it was a point that needed to be made.)

Also, I'd always try to make sure the bride and groom ate something, especially if they were drinkers, and even if it meant fixing them a doggy bag. You'd be surprised by how many don't eat.

Sex with a lot of different people may make you a much better lover. Making lots of mistakes in many more casual relationships may allow you to avoid pitfalls that could otherwise trip you up with your lifetime love. Waiting on the accumulation of experience and maturity served me well.

Slip and Slides are not safe for adults.

ugh

Alot of bullshit in that last paragraph. There is nothing miraculous about finding someone to wed or in sharing your life with someone. In fact, it happens to most people. The truth is we are wired to be social and share our lives, and there are a lot more compatible people available to do this with than society would have you believe. No magic or miracles or divine intervention involved. The whole idea of 'the one' is a ridiculous lie.

@3 is correct. The largest decline in 10-year divorce rates (48% to 40% to 29%) occurs when the wife's age at marriage passes 19 then 20 years. There's a smaller decline (29% to 25%) when she passes age 25.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad323.pd…

What I'm finding based on the literature and data is that how you phrase the question matters a lot, and it is difficult to compare 10-year outcomes for women born 20 or 30 years apart without running into the problem of, basically, confounding influences of women's lib over time.

@14.. and water.. drink water. if not before the ceremony because, pee, then after. my best man's job was to make sure i ate something and drank water, because i knew i would have forgotten. i was amazed at how drunk i didn't get.