Since the Last Time

I got engaged! It's surreal really.
All of the things that people seem to get excited about marriage seem to be very superficial to me. If the happy couple have no convictions about pre-marital sex, and they live together, what in the world could make marriage significant besides lame cultural norms? If the happy couple has convictions about pre-marital sex, it seems that many times their excitement to get married is full of erotic love without any consideration for agape. Any two people can have sex. Not everybody can live together. In fact, I don't believe that anybody can live together their whole lives without an agape kind of commitment to one another. And this is not a bad thing. Actually this is the beauty of monogamous relationships. They stay together for love, in the fullest sense of the word, not just the Hollywood sense. Sex is the beautiful commencement of a commitment. (Which is why pre-marital sex, fornication, and adultery are so ugly).
So while commencement is an exciting prospect. It's not the only prospect of marriage. I also realize that hard times are coming, and so is pain, but I'm excited to be able to live life with someone I really really care about. I have no Hollywood ideas of grandeur and romance. I in no way can believe that this marriage will alone bring me the happiness I've been waiting for. It will however be one of the major things that God uses to bring me more joy as he uses our relationship to show us Himself, the source of all joy.
And to my married audience. I am very open to advice.