(Name) and (name), this ceremony marks the culmination of your courtship. If you are like most lovers, the road of romance was filled with doubts and hopes, with problems and disappointments, with moments of heart swelling joy and the wonder of blossoming love. Now you have come boldly to declare that love before God and your invited guests. We are thrilled to share these moments with you.

It would be nice to be unreservedly optimistic about your future. But I can't, because marriage isn't a one-way ride on the happiness express. An example of what can happen is illustrated by a story I once heard. A dog-tired business man came home from the office only to hear his wife announce that the cook had quit.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because of you," she fired back.

"Me? What did I do?"

"Well," the…