An interesting outlook

I went to a farewell of a work colleague last night and was listening to a very interesting conversation. This colleague, who is in his late 20s, had just proposed to his girlfriend and was discussing his outlook on marriage and relationships. Last year they purchased a house together which they are living in and he was talking about having kids. He felt that he would have preferred to have a child before they got married. The conversation went something like this -- we own our house and I think it would be good to have a child, and get that over with, before we do the wedding thing.

Am I just an old fart or does he have everything backward?!

In my mind two people getting married demonstrates a committment to each other. I understand that this makes sense in the Jewish community and other traditional communities but is it obsolete in the general (read non-Jewish) community of 2005?