Speaking of Marriage

Recently I've been doing interviews and presentations on the subject of marriage. In particular, how can couples have a successful marriage?

One of the themes I find myself revisiting is this: In any sporting event, business plan, or any walk of life . . . it is vitally important to get off to a good start. Few teams win when they continually have to "come from behind" or overcome great obstacles. Few businesses succeed that get deep into the hole in the first year. And the same is true of most anything else in life.

It is equally true--in fact, almost universally true--that few marriages survive if they have to struggle out of financial ruin. Getting off to a good financial start in marriage is critical, and one of the ways to make this happen is to have a debt-free wedding. Couples who get into the hole, who go into debt in order to finance a wedding, rarely have successful marriages.

Don't jeopardize your future by having a wedding on credit. Create what you can afford. Create a budget and stick to it. Love each other, not the idea of a blow-out wedding. Believe me, a couple with have many other days that are far more special, far more significant, than the wedding day. My wife and I have our 25th wedding anniversary this year, and what we will do on this anniversary far outweighs the day we organized 25 years ago. A wedding is important, but a marriage is what you are living for!