In your opinion, what is the purpose of marriage? What is a marriage? What does it mean to get married?

Go on, share your perspective. :)

Please disregard whatever anyone else told you it should mean in the past and instead contribute your very own heavily biased opinion. Imagine you were designing the idea for the very first time.

What would/should it mean between the marriage participants?
What would/should it mean in terms of legalities within a country?

(btw, “civil unions” be damned. We’ll have none of that in this discussion. This is a discussion about MARRIAGE specifically)
(btw#2, feel free to discuss/acid test eachother’s opinions)