When I decided to launch Black Bridal Bliss, I knew folks would inevitably criticize the site for glorifying the pomp and circumstance of traditional weddings over the meat and potatoes of marriage. (That actually hasn’t happen yet but I’m prepared.) I’ve never been married myself but I’m not blinded by tulle. I’m well aware that there are distinct differences between weddings and marriage, which is why it was imperative that there was a designated home on the site for “Marriage Matters”. Look to this section of Triple B for up close and personal interviews with real married couples who are willing to candidly share their ups and downs on life after the honeymoon.

To kick things off, I’m suggesting you check out a wonderful article from the April 2010 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine titled, “To Have and to Hold”. The featured couple, Paula Davis and Charles Graff (pictured above) had their forty-plus year marriage chronicled beautifully yet honestly by writer Dawn Porter. I was so moved by it that I had to find a way to share it with my Triple B family. What happens when your husband’s job forces him to live on the other side of the world? Or when your in-laws just aren’t feeling you? The piece is refreshing in a sea of women’s magazine relationship coverage that typically focuses on snagging a “good” man or kicking a “no-good” one to the curb. Rarely does one examine the nuances of what happens in between. Good stuff.

Read “To Have and to Hold” here. After you check the piece out, be sure to come back and let me know what you thought in the comments section below.