I think I've posted something like this before, but it seems apropos - this is from a toast I gave at my brother's wedding:

A wise old canoeman once told me, "When paddling with your wife, son, always be sure she's in the bow."  I pondered this for years, because I knew there had to be a deeper meaning.  Was he trying to say that your wife is smarter than you, and should always be in front because she will know the way through life, or what?  So I thought about it and thought about it, and then, after three years of marriage, it finally hit me.  And it was so simple:  if your wife's in the bow, that means she can't smack you in the head with her paddle when you get lost.

With that in mind, I'd like to offer the canoe as a metaphor for marriage:  When you paddle a canoe alone, you get along fine by yourself.  You acheive a degree of self-reliance that makes you stronger as an individual.  Then, usually when you least expect it, you meet someone – and you have to start paddling the same canoe together.  It's awkward at first – you zigzag down the lake, both of you swearing it's the other one steering you off course.  But then after a while something clicks, and suddenly you're amazed at how far and how fast you can travel paddling in unison.  Your life takes on new meaning, and a deep and lasting satisfaction descends as you experience everything together.  And whether the days are calm and the paddling is easy, or you're pulling into a strong headwind and it takes everything you've got to keep the canoe . . . and your marriage . . . on course, always remember that it's the journey of life that will bring you closer together as husband and wife.