I thought that I'd mention for those who are may not know it that the whole romantic love thingy that we worship is nothing more than an elevation of infatuation by medieval bards. It was something they did to get appeal to more clients.
Before that romanticization, people married for family gain, and had sex to satisfy their sexual needs. The importance of giving one's virginity in marraige only really applied to women and only to insure that the women's family was not peddling damaged goods. Even then, it was alright for a woman who was not a virgin to marry if the groom's family knew what they were getting and the bride price reflected it. Love came to those who cultivated it after the marraige, and still does.
In many other cultures, virginity is not nescessary or even desired. Among some poleneasian groups, a young women goes to a village deflowerer, a man trained to give a girl her first sexual experience when she reaches a certain age or developement. They think that it is important NOT to leave this first experience in the hands of a fumbling groom on a wedding night. Another culture in the region ENCOURAGES young ladies to lose their virginity and experiment with most of the unmarried males in their villages while they are still quite young. And amazingly enough, pregancies among these girls are very rare prior to marraige. Experts theorize that it may be due to something in the diet at that age that prevents it (my bet is on a lack of something in the young males' diet since they are segregated from the rest of the community and eat differently, and a lack of certain vitamins in a MAN's diet can cause a low enough sperm coutn to make one effectively sterile.). And I could go on and on.
My point being that I agree that we place too much emphasis virginity at marraige. My first experience came when I got married to a divorcee who was also a mother several times over. IMHO there is much to be said for a first experience with one who knows what they are doing. Of course a beliver would still want to follow the Biblical standard for their position (whether they be virgin, or divorcee, or non-virgin convert) simply because they belive that is the right thing to do. As I said earlier, real love comes later if it is cultivated by both parties.