My father absolutely agreed to the match with my first husband (of 16 years), and was actively upset when I divorced my PhD "meal ticket". He didn't understand my attraction to Lew at first (although both of my sisters saw it the first time they met him). Lew is incredibly smart, and skilled at figuring things out, from wiring a building to sewing satin bridesmaid dresses to teaching himself the stock market to stripping & rebuilding engines on stock cars. He can do pretty much anything he sets his mind to. But he never went to college. And my father couldn't understand that. I should mention that Lew & I are approaching our 26th anniversary, and I've never been happier.
Clearly parents do NOT always know best when it comes to their children should marry.