What is marriage?

Simply, it's the union between a man and a woman.

Legally speaking, a jurisdiction may recognize such a union by issuing
a certificate, often called a 'marriage license'. By giving legal
recognition to the marriage, the state confers certain rights and
obligations onto the couple. There are also laws relating to their
offspring.
In the United States, at least for the last few decades, the legal
certificate is sufficient for a couple to be considered married. In
some American jurisdictions, no ceremony as such is required. Just
signatures on a piece of paper.
If a couple were to hold hands in the park, and say, "We marry each
other." the state would not be amused. It would not recognize the
validity of the alleged marriage. Why? Because as the cliché goes, no
job is finished until the paperwork is done. Without a certificate of
marriage, the state maintains that there is no marriage. (If the
couple live together long enough in some jurisdictions, theirs may be
considered a 'common law' marriage, but that's another story.)
Maybe centuries ago, this legal requirement was less strict or
non-existent. But these are modern times, and that's how the law is
these days.
Now, let us consider the religious aspect.
After becoming married in a religious ceremony, according to the
dictates of their religion, a couple is considered to be 'married', as
far as other members of their religion are concerned. If there is
another denomination of their religion, or an entirely different
religion that accepts their marriage, all well and good: other
churches will accept their marriage, too.
Still, in nearly all cases, the church will insist that the couple
take care of the legal requirements of the jurisdiction in which they
reside. Often, the pastor, priest, rabbi or minister who conducts the
religious ceremony is also authorized to sign the legal paperwork. In
my own case, Jane and I were married (civil sense) by Esteban Galvan,
pastor of the Bronx UC, who obtained authority from the government to
sign the marriage certificate.
The Reverend Sun Myung Moon does not sign marriage licenses. Not only
would this be impracticably arduous in the case of a mass marriage of
1,000 or more couples, but it is not possible for him to be authorized
by the multitude of legal jurisdictions throughout the world. So after
getting married in the Blessing ceremony, the couple must get married
in the civil sense as well. This can often take a long time,
especially if the couple are citizens of different countries or have
overseas missions. Not speaking the same language can be a problem,
too!
Still, like all other couples, Blessed couples celebrate their wedding
anniversary according to the date of their Blessing -- not the date of
their civil ceremony.
Conflicts between the two aspects of marriage
A couple can get married (in the civil, legal sense) by signing a
marriage certificate with the proper endorsements. This, however,
might not be recognized by their church. Some religions do not
recognize the validity of marriage with non-believers or with
adherents of another, conflicting faith.
A couple can get married (in the religious sense) but still not be
considered 'married' by the state. In many international marriages,
this can be a big problem, particularly when a wife from a poor
country immigrates to the United States to be with husband. It can
take years to straighten out the legal issues, if Immigration disputes
the marriage's validity. This was rather a common problem for UC
members in the 1970s and 1980s, when typically after being Blessed a
couple would then remain separated for 3 years or more before settling
down.
Conclusion
In this essay, I have presented the idea that there are two aspects to
marriage: religious and civil. Both religions and governments insist
that their respective aspects be fulfilled properly to recognize the
validity of a marriage. Indeed, in nearly all cases, a couple will
fulfill the requirements of both their religion and their government,
by participating in a religious wedding and by completing the proper
legal documents.