There are principles that are set forth in scripture that I think are to be applied to every marriage. One of the elements of the marriage service that we find in the traditional ceremony that crosses denominations is that when we come together for marriage we say, "Dearly beloved we are assembled together here in the presence of God and of these witnesses," etc. We recognize the fact that marriage is something that was instituted by God, ordained of God, and was given the sacred approval of Christ by His presence at the wedding feast at Canaan.
But we have a line in the traditional marriage that is often overlooked: "that marriage is regulated by God's commandments." It's not simply that God ordained and instituted marriage and gave it to us as a gift, saying, "Here is the gift, now you go and use it however you want to." Rather, what God ordains and institutes, He also exercises His sovereignty over within the framework of marriage. Obviously, a marriage that is to last has to be based upon a kind of mutual trust and fidelity.
That's why, when we take the vows the vows that mean that I commit myself, body and soul, to my wife as long as we both shall live that she has a reason and a right to trust that I am going to keep my word. God holds me responsible for that kind of commitment so that at the heart of every union between two people is this principle of trust. That's why the Bible takes such a dim view of adultery, for example, because it is the supreme act of infidelity that breaks the trust and breaks the faith upon which the marriage is built.
Of course there are guidelines in terms of how the family is supposed to be run even though it is very unpopular in our day and age. I don't think we can escape the fact that the New Testament gives the responsibility for headship or leadership in the home to the husband. That responsibility is not a license for tyranny; it is not a license for domination or for destroying the dignity of the woman but rather it's a burden. It's a task where the buck stops with the husband in terms of living leadership and direction in the home. But it's still a relationship of mutual love and respect of a vital partnership in the home.
These are just a few of the guidelines. Of course the Bible has much more to say about the patterns upon which a healthy marriage is to be established.