I used a mod that allowed you to marry any NPC. I ended up with the priestess of Azura, Aranea Ieneth, after I chose to return Azura's Star to her at the statue. After Azura released her from her service, Aranea admitted to feeling a bit lost without purpose and agreed to become my follower. After a few quests together, I put on the amulet and popped the question because I was thinking: "Here's someone I can trust and she needs a home." It became a situation where the past was implicit and we didn't need to talk about it. Honestly, a far more satisfying (and logical) marriage than any of the vanilla ones. Bonus: She didn't come with any other NPCs following her into my home and staring at us all the time.
"What happened to EVERY wife in Skyrim", skips over several of them. like, punch the living daylight out of Uthgerd and marry her... such a wholesome basis for a relationship.
If I'm not mistaken, Aela is already in love with Skjorn (I think that's his name), he's also from the Circle, and he dies during the Companions campaign.
5:01 but this is wrong. Ysolda's gimmick is literally giving you money from her business because she's your wife. In other words you have to make her successful in some capacity to even become her partner and she in turn helps fund your delving.
Logistically it's harder because you likely moved her to a falkreath mansion but that's beside the point
I married Illia because killing her witch mother rather than help her become an evil creature passes as one of the greatest moral decisions I can find.