Sounds good to me. It fits pretty well since we have a recurring female presence that is never in the room when the characters are.
I kind of zoned out a little during the Lithgow bits. I think Lithgow is awesome, but I just didn’t like his part in the show.
As for not having to be actual relatives, seeing as how my daughter’s favorite relatives are Aunt Dee and Uncle Charles (my best friend and his wife), I totally get the concept!
-Joe
Hey now, I have dibs on that theory.
Phew. Before I opened the thread, I saw the title and immediately thought “Barney is getting married duh!” But then I saw the OP.
I think it’s Robin. Barney is going after Nora first, so it can’t end up being her. Robin is dating Kumar, so it has to be her.
Behind the scenes, the writers had already written the Robin & Barney being miserable and breaking up episode before they realized how much chemistry the actors had. They said they might have done things differently had they realized.
Although, it should have been obvious to them. Before they dated, they had a ‘play date’ and were awesome together before Barney ruined things by misinterpreting “Battleship”.
Plus, it only adds insult to injury for Ted, who is the romantic and desperately seeking the titular love interest, if his ex, and two relationship phobic friends end up getting hitched before he does.
I know the first episode revisits the wedding, but it’s still a flash forward (from the perspective of the flash back obviously). I’m guessing this season’s finale involves Barney getting married in the timeline proper, and Lily giving birth.
I’m still hoping that they pull a “Definitely Maybe” at the end of the season, and have Ted meet three different women at the wedding, with us having to figure out (root for) which one is the real mother for about half the season, with the rest being courting leading up to his own wedding.
Also I guess they are already sort of doing this with Barney this season.
I didn’t even think about the Ted part of the scenario, but that’s totally true. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ted is back in the mix with Robin at some point. Remember, at Stella and Ted’s wedding, Robin told him she always figured if she ever changed her mind about marriage, it was nice knowing Ted was there. So if Robin gets to a point where she’s ready to get married, it’s almost certain Ted will have to be back in the mix. She wouldn’t just marry Barney without considering Ted, the more obvious choice.
Carter Bays has said in a recent interview that there’s definite significance behind the fact that Ted began the story of how he met the mother by telling his kids how he first met Robin. I always figured it wasn’t the end of Ted and Robin, and I have a feeling something’s going to spark up again this season or next.
What if the wedding itself is a fake-out of who Barney will end up with?
Over at AV Club the reviewer (Donna Bowman) has posited that the last season or two have focused less on Ted growing into his settled adult life, and more on Barney’s much more unusual movement towards the same. If this is true, perhaps we have reached the point that Barney is beginning to admit to himself that he does want that ‘conventional’ life and relationship, and pursues it with Nora. He’s head over heels, decides to make the commitment and they get married.
However, after a while of ‘married bliss’, Barney begins to realise that although his life is a close approximation of what he wanted, it’s not quite right. Cue some form of marital collapse (perhaps Barney reverts to his womanising ways and cheats, or, more interestingly, he almost does, feels proud for having resisted and then finds Nora cheating) and a painful divorce.
After the divorce, he ‘bros out’ with Robin (who is herself getting over Ted finally getting settled and/or Kumar not working out as people mentioned has been hinted at upthread) and they realise they have the same goals in life and are uniquely suited to being together.
It just seems that we have not yet seen divorce on the show, except for the amicable split between Ted’s parents, and it would be interesting to see how it’s handled - plus Barney can be so impulsive and wedded to his ‘Challenge Accepted’ modus operandi, that trying to shortcut finding a mate that is perfectly suited to him, instead going for someone he is infatuated with, seems to be in character.
Accoording to the zap2it (online TV guide) it is
Punchy’s
Wedding
Brian
It’s got to be Nora. Barney and Robin had their thing and it’s over. Barney talks about Nora as he has no other woman and I believe she is “the one” for him. As for Robin, I don’t care who she winds up with as long as the writers find some reason to have her scantily clothed once in a while.
That’s not a spoiler. Punchy’s wedding in the premiere is the catalyst for the flashforwards to Barney’s wedding in the premiere.
Just Checked IMDB for S7 of HIMYM and it looks like can’t be Robin
What is it you are seeing that I’m not seeing?
From IMDB
While Barney prepares for his wedding to a mystery bride, he and Ted reminisce about Punchy’s wedding, including when Marshall and Lily announced they were having a baby. Meanwhile, Robin considers telling Barney she has feelings for him.
so if they are at Barnies wedding…
How is it that Robin considers telling Barney how she feels - if it was their wedding I think Barney would already know
Ah, but which sequence does the “meanwhile” hook on to?
IMDB missed something in the translation.
Barney’s wedding (and we still haven’t seen the bride) is a flash-forward. Punchie’s wedding is the event in the current timeline. It’s at Punchie’s wedding where Robin considers telling Barney how she feels.
YOU BASTARDS! Please tell me they aren’t going to cliff-hang who Barney marries for the rest of the season!
ETA: The bastards are the show people, not you people. I looooove you people. 
So now we have two more future events to speculate on.
[spoiler]1. The bride wants to see Ted. But both Lily and Ted look a little surprised that the bride wants to see him.
Hey, Victoria’s back! Yay! Ted can be happy for a little while then!
And, Edward Fortyhands? I love this show so much.
Wait, why am I telling you this?
I’m super excited to see Victoria too.
Wait, what was this casino thing?
“I know I tell you kids a lot of inappropriate stories…” 
The last season’s finale teased me with the prospect of Dave Foley playing Marshall’s new boss, and now we’re saddled with Martin Short? Boo! Martin Short is not funny.
On an unrelated note, I would marry Victoria so hard, given the opportunity.
Yay! Victoria! I liked her.