Does marriage really matter? It does.

About the (subtle) impact of commitment

Recently Andrew and I had our wedding. Surrounded only by our immediate family members and a handful of friends, the day was amazing. We wanted to keep it small and eliminate the stress that usually comes with weddings. From the organization of it all to the event itself.

We already knew a while back that we are committed to each other and are planning to spend our lives in each other’s company. Even before the wedding day we were discussing that the marriage will not make a difference in our lives. As we already knew that we wanted to share our lives. It was more for the family to celebrate us. 

Is it still honeymoon phase?

It has been only a bit more than a few weeks now that we had our wedding. Yet there’s still a youthful excitement to the fact that our “status” has changed. You can call it “young marriage euphoria”, (although at our ages and with our history, we can’t really call it “young” in the usual sense of the word.) But something has changed. It is not only great to be able to call each other husband and wife, or to see our wedding bands on each other’s fingers. But something inexplicably has amalgamated our bond, although we were already unified before the marriage.

We both had our previous marriages, our kids and are not planning to have more. We are only planning a life together to be able to love and rely on each other for the years to come. 

I was one of the sceptics of marriage. I somehow thought we are only legalizing a fact. that had already been agreed upon and decided between us. Therefore, I saw no real need for it. Plus, any marriage only causes legal complications should you drift apart. Both of us were a bit apprehensive of making a commitment for different reasons. 

But now I know that our decision of marrying was one of the best decisions we could have made. It seems that fewer and fewer couples see the necessity of commitment through marriage, and I totally understand why. Mainly in the western world respect for the institution of marriage has dwindled, as divorcing is so easy (notwithstanding the consequences of course). I still recommend considering to commit, particularly if there is a natural bond. It will only solidify it.