<p>As an anglo born and raised in the US the entire notion of arranged marriages seemed bizarre – until I met two people who were happily in them. One was a well-educated Indian woman, and when she explained the process that was involved, her ability to agree or not to the specific match, and her overall high level of satisfaction with the marriage. The other is an Indian engineer who works with my husband, and who is quite happily married via arranged marriage to a woman from the town he came from in India. About that point I realized that it was my own cultural limitation that had led me to discredit the entire notion. It is not any weirder than our notion of romantic love, and frankly, arranged marriages have been around for a lot longer. There is also a lot to be said for a marriage that is strongly supported by both sets of parents.</p>
<p>Having said that, I’d encourage the OP to put off the discussion unless plans are already being made for the arranged marriage.</p>