During the week of Feb.18-22, we discussed the transitions in marriage, which included the aspects of the wedding, the marriage itself, introducing children starting from one then adding more.
When talking about the wedding, you hear about how much stress it in preparing for the big day, from setting an appoinment to decorating for a reception to who and how many you're inviting. What makes a good wedding and what makes a good marriage are actually different things.
With the wedding, well for starters, it's to celebrate the love between a couple. Also certain culture, family, and religous traditions help define the ceremony and the way you're doing everything, including what you will wear. There is a lot of planning for that big day because it is something to celebrate what has happened between a man and women. They have decided to be joined together for life (and in the LDS community, eternity), and it's the first day of the rest of their lives together.
With the marriage, there are many adjustments that need to be made. You're now living with someone who has different habits and has a different way of doing/handling things. You need to work together to decide what works for the two of you, and what will work when you begin and raise a family. You need to work together to take care of situations, like paying the bills and such; who's going to do what, how you're going to approach it, and so on.
Then comes the family. You're now having to take care of a little child (unless you start off with twins or more) who strongly needs your help to survive. You're having to care of him/her when they're crying, hungry, have a dirty diaper, and so on. Work together to decide who will do what. I am touched when a husband will be the one to get up in the middle of the night to tend to the baby while his wife sleeps, because she's having to do so much while he's away at work and/or school. As your family grows, parents can work together to take of various tasks with the children, such as who will take the kids to school, who will help who with getting ready for bed, etc.