Well I usually try to reward my followers (yes I know they're pixels) after they have outlived they're usefulness which is about 15-20 levels before enemies start killing them...
I married Lydia and made Uthgard my steward, my current follower is Serana but only because I can't get rid of her
I only ever married in Skyrim on my first playthrough back in the day and haven't bothered since.That was with Mjoll but I ruined it by getting her recruited to the Blades.
The whole concept of marriage is poorly executed and shallow, for me it breaks immersion rather than adding to it. Nowadays, I could only envision marriage along the lines of how Adrik incorporated it into his Telvanni Wizard.
The only character that this idea could have worked well with is Serana. Love her or hate her, at least the game gives you the chance to develop a bond with her through occasional dialogue changes and rp discsussions. Of course, Bethy cocked that up.