Invest more in marriage than in weddings

They got divorced three months after they were married at a wedding that cost them Sh12 million. I am still bitter about that.

Maybe I should start at the beginning.

Missy and Jackson (not their real names) met 12 months before their extravagant wedding.

To us, they were in love. A couple that finished each other’s sentences, looked into each other’s eyes with so much love and warmth, laughed, giggled, played and always had a joke they refused to share with the rest of the group.

They even wore matching outfits and colors whenever they had to show up for any outdoor event together.

They were perfect together.

I felt cheated when they filed for divorce just days after jetting back into the country after their three-month honeymoon.

They were supposed to last forever.

Or maybe they got married too early in their relationship.

I would love to think that societal pressures played a huge role in hastening their journey to the aisle, but at the end of the day, marriage is a decision two people need to make soberly.

After the fairy-tale wedding filled with romantic themes and soundtracks that prepare you for the rest of your life, it is the man and woman that are left alone to deal with their new reality.

It does not matter if all of your friends are getting married or that your mom keeps asking when she will get a new son or daughter.

There are too many shows about weddings and very few about marriage. Marriage is hard work.

I don’t know why everybody is in a rush to get married. Take your time, there is no ‘ideal’ age to get married.

I am sure that even if you are not married in the next three years, your life will still be fine.

There will be no tsunami, there will be no avalanche and the dinosaurs will not come back to life.

Get married for all the right reasons, with love being at the top.

It is nice to find someone to share the rest of your life with, but choose the right one.

Divorce is messy and murky.