Is Marriage a Formalization?

For hundreds of thousands of years, it appears that marriage was a way of reaching out to get relatives. But as class societies arose and got harder,. well, let's say I'm one of the top 5% of this emerging class society. I do not want my kid marrying someone in the bottom 75%. I'd rather marry someone exactly in ours or even a little higher. That's when you need to have it formalized. And at this point, marriage becomes a center of intrigue, betrayal and coercionto get people to marry into groups that will improve family's status or wealth.