Each moment in your life kept filled with pleasure will help you to keep happiness in your marriage. Please count the moments of happiness that you have felt. Then think about some of the material things, are they put away or gone? The material things seemingly just disappear while moments of happiness linger with us forever. Fairness It is important that whatever agreement spouses enter into be fair. The reason why people sign marriage contracts in the first place is so that they can avoid a long period of litigation if their marriage breaks down. If the agreement is not fair to both parties (or even if one party feels that it is unfair), he or she can take the matter to court and ask a judge to set aside the marriage contract. Of course he wants to go to great aunt’s dinner party (despite the fact she won’t speak to him) because he goes to all your family functions – of course he’ll cancel the other engagement he had. But think about it? In view of the fact that he usually goes, is it reasonable to demand he goes on this occasion? The “Cleaver” idea of family and home firmly put love and marriage together in a rose-tinted cameo of how a happy life ought to be. But only a generation or two down and life is very different. Attitudes have relaxed. Social norms have changed. Love and marriage don’t have to go together – and with the more open society we live in accepting that we are free to love who we choose and not be restricted by gender, then in some cases it isn’t even legally possible for them to do so. This was especially true for those people who were living at the higher end of the social ladder. Ancient Roman Marriage for the Upper Classes It was the duty of a father to find a suitable husband for his daughter or daughters, starting beginning when were between the ages of 12 and 14 years. The husband selected would almost always be older than his bride. While the tradition continues in some cultures today, most modern marriages are based on romantic love, with couples deciding freely to marry. Many of the traditions surrounding contemporary weddings can be traced throughout the history of marriage. Wedding rings date as far back as Egyptian society, where the circle symbolized eternity.