IMHO...
I have a feeling the OP is a troll and if he isn't, then he is either using very thinly veiled sarcasm...or is expressing his disdain towards LTR due to something that happened to him.
First of all, reasearch and common sense shows that couples who marry very quickly are more likely to divorce than couples who marry after knowing each other and courting each other for some time. It is not just research that compells others to wait to get married-- the Bible speaks about love, real love, not seeing stars in the skies (not that it's a bad thing). But the Bible compels a wife to submit to her husband as to the Lord, and a husband to love his wife as Christ loves the Church.
That takes a lot of understanding to happen and a lot of love. Two people who are in the initial working stages of a relationship will no necessary have the understanding of each other to respect what the Bible has said about marriage.
Yes when you find someone you really love and want to spend the rest of your life with, you marry them. But you marry them within reason and within a reasonable amount of time.
Part of being in a long term relationship is to be a precursor to marriage-- after all, a couple years together is not much compared to a lifetime together, but it gives you a good glimpse. In all honesty, if a couple has only been together for 6 months and can't reasonably work out their problems together, what really makes them think that they can get married and they will be able to work the problems out? simply because they got married? You're supposed to be able to work these problems out
before you get married this way you are better prepared with stress coping skills and know how you both will work things out together in a way that is fitting.
I don't necessarily agree with the "bombastic" wedding either but that is my personal choice. My bf and I want a wedding where our families and close friends are invited so they can witness and share the day with us. A wedding is one of the few shared and celebrated things a married couple can actually express to others, because many of the things about marriage are meant to be private. Why not take that day to be with the people who care about you and you them? Noone says you have to spend thousands of dollars. Noone says you invite strangers of all people (one would also think that you and your future spouse would bother
introducing each other to these people) and noone says there needs to be alcohol or horrendous dancing. I for one won't have any alcohol at my wedding (we're going to use sparkling white grape juice instead

) or horrendous dancing (I'm planning on having us take ballroom dance lessons together). But if a couple wants to have alcohol or spend lots of money, hey it's their wedding.
Get married in vegas or city hall? To be honest many Christians would rather have their marriages blessed, conducted and overseen by a pastor or priest and done in a church. Getting married like that is by no means a guarantee that it will be successful, but it is a good indicator for the seriousness that needs to be considered.
Marriages are a covenant and should be treated as such from beginning to end-- not like Britney Spears' 54-hour shabang. I may be reading into things but you don't seem to care much for it considering what you've said.