Since the last marriage thread i have gained a fiance, and so i know a little bit more about my feelings towards all of this.
Luckily, i found that my fiance has similar feelings towards marriage that i do, namely, we just want a massive party with all our friends and family there. Also we want the tax benefits etc. We have absolutely no interest in getting married in a church, or any of the religious crappery surrounding it.
Therefore we are planning on doing exactly what we want, and not dealing with all the pointless marriage traditions that are just outdated and silly.
Our plan is to hire out a huge mantion/chateau in France for the week (which is more or less cheaper than hiring a venue for the day in the UK), and have a massive party there with all our friends. Since we can't legally get married in France, we'll just put together some sort of humanist ceremony and then sign the right documents later.
We're having a very informal thingy, which means no expensive dress/photographer (sorry Goafer)/flowers/caterers. This means our alcohol budget is greatly increased (wahey!), and the planning will be really easy.
It won't be for a while yet, but i'm really looking forward to it.