A Weekend of Weddings

This weekend was a strange one for me. Not one, but two former boyfriends got married. A third friend was married to a woman he met only four months ago, and a fourth got engaged after a similarly swift courtship. To my knowledge, all four couples met online, at either Lavalife or Plenty of Fish. I wish them all many happy years together.

Still, it was an interesting confluence of events, so I paused to think momentarily about what it could all mean. I thought of how my generation (X) isn't getting married as often as previous generations, and how those that do are getting hitched later on (30s) as opposed to previous generations who courted and wed in their 20s. I also pondered online dating sites, and how they've managed to connect so many people worldwide that wouldn't have otherwise met... like eHarmony, who recently sent me some research (to be discussed in more detail later this week) that showed 236 eHarmony members in the US wed every single day as a direct result of the website. And then I thought about these short dating relationships, where people were meeting, connecting and knowing they'd found The One -- all within days, weeks or months of having met. Which I'll readily admit isn't all that unusual, but it makes me want to research the long term relationship studies for these kinds of partnerships. Do longer dating relationships equal longer marriages, or does the strong chemistry inherent in a shorter courtship mean a stronger bond?

I'm doubtful I'll have any definitive answers anytime soon. So for now I'll just sit and toast my friends and loved ones who tied the knot or got engaged this weekend, and think a bit more about how their partnerships can help the rest of us (myself included) find the perfect date.