In an ideal world, maybe you'd love to spend a large portion of your free time attending the weddings, birthdays and other life cycle events of your nearest and dearest. But life, work, and geographical boundaries often get in the way, making it a tricky a proposition to attend every single milestone event for every single close friend and family member.

Getting married is one of the biggest life decisions you'll ever make - especially if you're determined to stick it out through thick and thin. According to relationship psychologist and author Eli Finkel, it's important to assess long-term compatibility before tying the knot. These are the questions you should be asking.

Elliot Polland has been practicing divorce law since 1968, and he's seen it all, from lovers' quarrels to full-blown implosions of people who wish they'd never said "I do."

We asked Polland to share the most common pitfalls he sees couples experience — and how to avoid them.

Redditors have been sharing wedding horror stories and hard-learned lessons in the Ask Reddit thread, “What’s the one thing you regret doing for your wedding day?” I had a perfect wedding, and my only regret is getting really tightly tailored suit pants. So get yourself some slacks with room to grow, and learn these wedding lessons the easy way.

If your friends are just starting to get married, you may wonder what an appropriate amount is to spend on a gift for the happy couple. Luckily, you no longer have to use old rules to figure it out, because there's a simple answer: whatever you can afford.

When you're planning a wedding, you want the perfect day, including providing your guests with celebratory drinks. A full bar, however, can bust your budget and offering just wine and beer might disappoint some. For the best of both worlds, offer your guests a craft cocktail.

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Tired of the same old wedding photos? Want your special day to be a little more unique? Well, other than setting fire to a giraffe and riding it post-nuptials, which would almost certainly draw the attention of the media and local law enforcement, you could always ask your wedding photographer to give a few of these positions a go.

If you have spent your whole life dreaming of getting married while wearing an ivory princess gown paired with a lacy cathedral bridal veil, surrounded by 500 of your nearest and dearest friends, this is not the blog for you. But if you like the idea of actually having a good time on your wedding day and in the period leading up to it, read on.

Weddings are a project, and they benefit from a good project management tool. We talked to the CEO of Zola, one of Lifehacker readers' favourite wedding sites. Australian Shan-Lyn Ma co-founded Zola after undergoing the stress of buying people wedding gifts; her co-founder Nobu Nakaguchi had gone through the stress of setting up a wedding registry. Ma talked to Lifehacker about running the company, organising her life, and how to make yourself irrelevant.

The first important decision a married couple makes is ... how to get married. Black tie at the Ritz? Clambake at the shore? Backyard potluck? Research shows you might be better off with a cheap - but well-attended - wedding. Scott Stanley and Galena K. Rhoades, professors and researchers for the Institute of Family Studies, report that while the cost of weddings has been rising, the number of guests has been falling.

It is estimated that the average Australian wedding costs somewhere in the region of $40,000. For many people, that's just way too much money. Thankfully, there's no reason why a modest budget has to result in a crappy looking wedding. Here are 16 simple ways to keep costs down without visibly cheapening your special day.

From today, same-sex couples are allowed to be married in Australia. That means congratulations are in order, first of all, and second of all, it requires a really solid welcome. So here it is: Welcome to the crazy world of wedding planning, same-sex couples.

We've got all of our best guides to planning a wedding right here.

You have problems, I have advice. This advice isn't sugar-coated - in fact, it's sugar-free, and may even be a little bitter. Welcome to Tough Love.

You have problems, I have advice. This advice isn't sugar-coated -- in fact, it's sugar-free, and may even be a little bitter. Welcome to Tough Love.

Legally, all you need for a wedding is a visit to the registry office, and whatever else your local government requires. Everything else is optional. Of course, some things are more optional than others.

Music is essential at a wedding, especially at the reception. But some songs are just way too cliche -- or ear-ravaging -- and people are tired of hearing them. These are those songs.

The concept of a 'dream wedding' usually involves exotic locales, sumptuous foods, classic cars, professional photography and an overpriced designer wedding dress. Some couples throw in doves and ponies too.

According to research from Emory University in Atlanta, you'd be much better off throwing a backyard shindig instead. They found that the more you spend on your wedding, the more likely you are to get divorced. No, really.

You don't have to say yes to every wedding invitation, says Dante Jordan at The Awl. And while Jordan targets people who wish they could say no to every wedding, this is also good advice for those of us who like to occasionally witness two friends declare their love, then eat dinner.

Dear Lifehacker, My boyfriend just proposed to me and we're planning to get married in the Spring. However, neither of us have any idea how much weddings are supposed to cost! While I would love a dream wedding with all the trimmings, the reality is we don't have heaps of money to burn.

What sort of budget do we need to set for an average-size wedding? Also, are there any cost-cutting tips you can share? (We want it to be affordable without looking like we cheaped out!)