Love on the Internet

People are looking for life-long relationships in the most peculiar places. There's the favourite haunt ? the hotel. Here, the optimists imagine they're going to meet a partner who never drinks or swears, apparently having accidentally stumbled into the hotel while seeking directions to the nearest church.

Then there's the personal column in the newspaper where highly attractive, talented and desirable people who have tired of the attention and adulation they get from people who know them, are seeking to bring sunshine into the lives of the people who don't.

And, of course, the latest meeting place is the Internet. It seems that while unable to connect with the people who see them every day, the internet enthusiasts are convinced they can connect with those they can't.

Mind you, it's a lot easier to impress when your revelation of character is by writing only. All those irritating habits like scratching intimate body parts, loudly honking while blowing your nose, counting out five dollars' worth of coins at the grocery check out, and fighting with the waiter over the doneness of your meal, are all yet to be discovered.

Marriage in this age of the Internet, is a far cry from its original establishment. Once upon a time everyone knew his or her place in the society and accepted it. The parlour maid married the butler and the farmer married his neighbour's daughter. The marriage not only united the two people, but embraced a family and a way of life which was as well-known to them as their own.

There was no going on the "Oprah" or "Dr Dwyer" show crying, "I didn't know he was a drunk! Honest to God! Before we were married not a sip passed his lips. Then on our wedding day he took one drink, then another, then another, and six months later he's still sipping."

This sort of thing couldn't happen in the past. You could go back to your intended's great, great, great-grandfather. If there had been any proclivity to sipping, be it ever so slight, you'd know about it.

Did this make for a happier marriage?

Well, we all know whether we're happy or not has very little to do with out partner. Even in those days gone by, you could still covet your neighbour's wife or husband. You simply didn't have the excuse that you didn't know what you were getting when you married your own.

Vlady, an Australian Civil Marriage Celebrant, is an author of "The Complete Book of Australian Weddings", "The Small Organsiation Handbook" and an ebook "Honeymoon! A Sizzle or a Fizzle?" which you can see on her website http://www.vlady-celebrant.com

In The News:

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New York Times
Eloping to Vegas? Why Not Lower Manhattan?
New York Times, United States - Jan 7, 2009
“With these new digs, there might just be a new world wedding capital.� The city clerk’s office issued 66600 marriage licenses in 2007 and performed about ...
Manhattan's new Marriage Bureau earns wows as a place to say your vows New York Daily News
NY hears wedding bells, aims to compete with Vegas The Associated Press
Wedding Bells Ring In NYC Marriage Bureau WNYC
Downtown Express - Gothamistall 254 news articles

Washington Post
‘Bride Wars’ is a failed marriage | 1 ½ stars
Kansas City Star, MO - 13 hours ago
And their mutual friends will have to decide which wedding to attend. All would be well if only one of them would cancel (or if they would agree to a double ...
Video: Ann Hathaway's Stellar Year CBS
'Bride Wars' stars Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway are funny allies Los Angeles Times
Two Weddings and a Furor New York Times
Tampa Tribune - Boston Globeall 759 news articles

New York Times
Movie review: Cliches nag 'Not Easily Broken'
San Francisco Chronicle,  USA - 5 hours ago
The opening wedding scene in the new Bill Duke film, "Not Easily Broken" is so overwrought and cliched, it's akin to sitting down with a promising novel, ...
Not Easily Broken ( ** ) AHN
Movie Review: ‘Not Easily Broken’ is a romantic soap opera that ... Providence Journal
» Inspirational drama anything but 'Broken' Chicago Daily Herald
Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Kansas City Starall 81 news articles

FOR FAMILIES: A guide for parents to Jan. 9 and earlier releases
Chicago Tribune, United States - 10 hours ago
By Roger Moore | Tribune Newspapers What it's about: Best friends become dueling brides when they both book the wedding they've always dreamed of in the ...

Wearing white and eating cake, Brides magazine turns 75
The Canadian Press, NEW YORK - 21 hours ago
"The magazine is realistic about how people's lives are today, but still the focus is how to have a successful wedding and start a healthy marriage," says ...

Wedding war: Las Vegas versus New York
KVBC, NV - 8 hours ago
The city has renovated it marriage bureau and even built a 24000-square-foot wedding complex with the hope of becoming the most popular wedding site. ...

New York Magazine
City to Make Your Shotgun Marriage Just That Much Nicer
New York Magazine,  USA - Jan 7, 2009
Photo: Getty Images Perhaps sensing the economic downturn (and having eventually watched the Sex and the City movie), the city spruced up its civil-wedding ...

MLive.com
Bay County gets older, refrains from marriage, likes guns ...
MLive.com, MI - 19 hours ago
Luczak said economics could be partly to blame, as young couples struggling to get a foothold in life may be putting off the expense of a wedding.

Former First Lady Cornelia Wallace Dies At 69
NBC13.com, AL - 4 hours ago
Just 16 months after their wedding Governor Wallace was shot. The assassination attempt left Wallace paralyzed. Fifty-four days later, he left the hospital ...

KHOU
Houston wedding show could help brides on a budget
KHOU, TX - Jan 7, 2009
“I refuse to go into this marriage in debt, “ says Ashley. “That's no way to start out.� -- Watch the flowers. All those arrangements can quickly add up. ...

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