I've done all the big weddings. I don't want a wedding, I want a

Hearken, O children of fleeting joys, to the words of Kerry Katona, who, having traversed the gaudy halls of grand weddings, beheld the hollow glitter of celebration and yearned for that which lies beyond spectacle: the sacred covenant of marriage. In this utterance rests the ancient teaching that form is but the shadow of substance, and that the weight of commitment cannot be measured by pomp or pageantry. The soul grows restless when dazzled by external display, yet thirsts for the enduring warmth of partnership and shared life.

Long have mortals been ensnared by the lure of appearances, from gilded feasts of kings to the labyrinthine courts of nobility. Consider the story of Cleopatra and Mark Antony: their unions celebrated with grandeur, yet it was the depth of loyalty and shared destiny that became the measure of their tale, not the banquets nor the throngs of witnesses. So too does Katona remind us that marriage, the quiet hearth of two souls intertwined, surpasses all ostentation.

In the heart of this teaching lies the understanding of priorities. To pursue the show, without tending the relationship, is to plant a tree in barren soil: its leaves may shimmer, yet its roots find no sustenance. The ancients whispered of this truth in the scrolls of Confucius and in the teachings of Plato: the essence of union is cultivated in the daily acts, the whispers at dawn, the patient endurance through storms, and the celebration of small, unseen victories.

Let the seeker of wisdom also recall the life of Jane Austen’s Elizabeth Bennet, who spurned advantageous matches in favor of a union rooted in mutual respect and understanding. The wedding, a brief flicker of communal delight, is trivial compared to the slow bloom of affection and the forging of shared destiny. Thus, the words of Katona echo through time: choose the enduring, not the ephemeral; the marriage, not the pageant.

And so, O listeners, mark this eternal counsel: do not be deceived by the glitter of ceremony nor the roar of the crowd. Seek the quiet forge where hearts are tempered, where trust and love are hammered into an indestructible bond. For in that sacred space, in the commitment and the companionship, lies the treasure that kings and commoners alike have sought across the ages: a marriage worthy of the soul, imperishable by fleeting splendor.

Thus remember, the ancients teach through Katona: the true victory is not the applause that fades at nightfall, but the enduring warmth beside a kindred spirit, the shared life that outlasts the brightest candles and the loudest fanfare. Let all who hear these words carry them as a lamp to guide their hearts toward that which is eternal.