Break the glass? Mazel Tov!

Over the years I have attended dozens of Jewish weddings. They all have some things in common. The most ubiquitous is the breaking of a glass by the groom. Various reasons are attributed to breaking a glass, depending on level of religious observance. Whether the belief is that the glass is a reminder of the destruction of the first and second Temples in Jerusalem, or a reminder of the Holocaust, or a memorial to deceased relatives, or even that in every joyous event we should always remember sorrows from the past, the breaking of the glass symbolizes solemnity and sorrow. And then? Mazel Tov! We scream it out. We applaud. We cheer. The wedding ceremony is over and the party can begin. All downers forgotten, sing, dance, be merry, and celebrate the marriage.
I never thought long and hard about this juxtaposition, it was just the way things were, and yet, the irony was brought home to me this past week, when I realized that the order of the actions was not set in stone. In an Orthodox Jewish wedding, the order of events is Kiddushin, culminating in the giving of a ring (solemn); the reading of the marriage contract (solemn); and Nissuin, the recitation of seven blessings over a cup of wine (joyous). The breaking of the glass comes at the end of Nissuin (solemn).
On December 2, 2010 I attended a wedding in Jerusalem. It was a beautiful wedding, held outdoors, with the lights of the city twinkling behind the bride and groom as they stood under the chuppah. In contrast to other weddings I have attended, the breaking of the glass followed the giving of the ring and preceded the reading of the marriage contract. This served to keep the mood of the wedding solemn through the reading, and then slowly build to a joyous crescendo with the completion of the seven blessings and the shouts of Mazel Tov.
To my mind, the effect of this change meant that we still remembered the destruction of the Temple, but we avoided any possible implication that the breaking of the glass and the shouting of Mazel Tov were connected. While I can see the argument for one last reminder that we can't/shouldn't be fully joyous without a rebuilt Jerusalem, this order made sense to me. I believe it is an effective solution to an age old irony.