Heh, I've only been married a couple of years, and we are "relatively" young (28 & 27). Hub comes from a religious background so I assume that his feelings about marriage would come from a religious standpoint. Personally, I chose marriage for a couple of reasons. One was that upon seeing my husband for the first time my first thought was "I'm going to marry that guy!" - so, it was a goal LOL..Another reason is that I really believe in the concept (I also believe that anyone who wants to marry anyone should be allowed to do so). It is better for families, I've seen how hard it is for kids whose parents weren't married - I have also seen that it's just as hard (if not moreso) for kids whose parents stay together "for the children". I got married because it seemed right to be legally bound to the man I loved for the rest of our lives. There are many ways to be bound to a person for life, and marriage seemed ( to us anyway) the best way to prove to eachother that no one else would do for us. Although... I must admit, if he'd asked me a few years earlier I would have rather had a "Handfasting Ceremony", as at the time I thought marriage was just a piece of paper. To me (now, anyway) it's MUCH more than that. Luckily we chose marriage for the "right" reasons, as I've seen many people get married just for the tax purposes or health insurance or green cards or all the other legal trappings of The Institution.

Phoenix- When I read these words: "I do believe in love and I know that GOD's will will be carried out." I felt compelled to share some of my story, as I lived a very long time wondering about God's will. I met "Dan" 26 years ago. I fell in love, and knew we were meant to be together. We weren't dating exclusively, but were very close. He went to school out of State, and we burned up the phone lines. We kept the post office afloat. He later discovered he had a child from a previous relationship. He married his son's mother, because it was "the right thing to do", despite many protests from many people- I was not one of them. I cried, I questioned God, I prayed...but that wedding still happened. During the next 20 years,we would bump into each other,or talk when one of us was single/separated, but not the other. I never wanted to be TOW as much for my own sake as for his and his wife's.And, since he had been the victim of adultery himself, he never wanted to be TOM. About two months after my last relationship ended, I called Dan on his Birthday, left a voicemail, and left it at that. I knew he had been divorced for about 5 years, but did not know his dating status. He called me back, a day or two later, and once again, we talked for hours. We took my kids to a pizza/arcade restaurant, and talked some more. Over the next few months, I started praying even harder, asking God, "am I crazy?" Everyone warned me that I'd get my heart broken, again. I tried to break things off, over and over. It's too good to be true, blah. Irony-Dan proposed to me on his eldest son's birthday. Shortly after, we were married, in the same church he had gotten married, and I had prayed and cried. Dan is now my DH, and I love him more NOW. Neither of us would take away the blessings of our respective children,but I do wish there hadn't been so much heartache.I quit asking what might have been, and now say what will be, will be. God's delays are not God's denials!

My first thought is that you might be able to Skype the ceremony. If your friends and family were to gather together back home, they could be part of it that way. They could even celebrate with wedding cake and what-not, maybe with the most honored back-home guest cutting it on your behalf.

Haha, I don't know why, but I saw the heading of this thread on the summary page and instantly thought the content might be related to the recent news item concerning same-sex marriages. Male "dancers" of any kind, also male skaters, who are hetero don't seem to be in the majority as regards sexual orientation. Not that it matters.