Arranged marriages, an update

Last year I posted about a reality TV show about three couples who agreed to let someone else arrange their marriages and meet that person for the first time at the wedding. I speculated that I thought it could work, but it would take a lot of work.

I remembered that post recently and decided to see if I could find out what happened. I found this report. I was pleasantly surprised to find that two of the three couples had decided to stick it out, though it’s clearly been work for them all. In some ways I suspect the pressure of being on Reality TV helped. They may have had a more vested interest in making it work, for one, but they also had those same experts who had matched them in the first place as resources. Both couples turned to those experts for counseling, and it appears to have helped. They also had something most couples don’t have: they have actual “game film” they can turn to when learning how they can improve their communication.

I’m not surprised to learn that what got one couple through a rough spot was an external trial they faced together. I think shared struggles can bring people closer together. One thing I did find interesting was that one couple appeared to have an instant connection, and yet they seem to have struggled just as much as the couple who were on shaky ground from the start. That seems to point to a willingness to work at it being one of the key ingredients to a lasting marriage more than attraction.

At any rate, my hat is off to those couples who had the guts to even do this in the first place. I wish them well, and hope they remain happily together.