With all of our focus on how to make your wedding special, we thought it was important to highlight some ways to make your marriage awesome, too. Introducing “Snapshot of a Marriage,” a series from contributor Emily Westbrooks, who interviews couples on some of their secrets for a strong and successful marriage.

The night he met Carolyn, Bob and a few of his friends had just returned from a skiing trip and decided to stop by a party in the neighborhood. When Bob arrived, Carolyn was sitting near the beer keg on the kitchen counter, and the two chatted throughout the night when Bob would go to refill his drink.

When the couple decided to get married, Carolyn’s father jokingly offered them $2,000 to elope! When it was obvious that Carolyn’s mother didn’t agree, the couple turned down the offer and continued planning their wedding. “In retrospect, it might have been a good deal for us, as we were shooed out of the wedding reception – a great party – by Carolyn’s mom, who reasoned that the guests couldn’t leave until we did.”

Bob explains that when they decided to get married, “Many of our friends were already married and were reporting to us from “the other side.” Both of us were weary of looking and the tension of dating, and we were happy that we had found each other. We both were raised in caring and loving families, and were overjoyed to join together for that lifestyle and to share the new adventure.”

Their new adventure soon involved raising their two children and Carolyn said it was a learning experience for them both. “While there were often times when we disagreed on an approach, through our frequent discussions, we presented one opinion to the children. It was through that experience that we learned the value of professional counseling. We are still in touch with the psychologist who helped us pull through.” And pull through, they did.

Bob and Carolyn spent their wedding night at the La Posada Santa Fe’s Motor Hotel (now La Posada de Santa Fe Resort & Spa), where they “were welcomed by the then (and still) gracious staff.” To celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary last year, Bob and Carolyn returned to the same Santa Fe hotel, and they brought along a copy of their original receipt. The hotel even honored the rate the couple paid on their wedding night – $10.30!