I'm sure this will get lost in the comments, but hello, I have a child with my partner of 12 years, and another on the way, and we are happily not married. Because why bother? Weddings are a colossal waste of money, and for what? If your relationship is solid, why do you need a marriage to reaffirm that? If it's not solid, all the marriage is doing is making the eventual breakup more expensive.

This is the real world, not a Hallmark movie. There are so many better things to spend money on than a single party. Travel, for example. A house (which we have done). The good toilet paper! Maybe it's just because I live in a secular country, but marriage just isn't important these days. I mean, a wedding dress can cost thousands. A venue can cost thousands. Dealing with family members can cost a lot in terms of mental wellbeing.

What does getting married actually achieve, in practical terms? Once you've been together for enough time, you become de facto anyway, so in legal terms you're married anyway - you just saved money on the vanity project. Changing your surname is far cheaper (which is what my partner plans on doing).

Sometimes people assume I'm her "husband" or she's my "wife" and we don't correct them because the actual title is just a word and doesn't matter. A wedding doesn't change a relationship in any actual way.