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I don't think I agree with the statement that the Church simply blesses a pre-existing union.

This is true of *converts* who have had a legal marriage, church or not, at the time of conversion. When we are married in the Church after conversion, it is helpful to think of it as the blessing of a pre-existing union, since we obviously were not living in sin or fornication just because we weren't Orthodox.

The wicket is stickier with Orthodox Christians who enter into a non-Orthodox marriage -- this is very different, and strictly speaking they are guilty of fornication, with the only question being what level of knowledge they have. Almost by definition, that person will not be spiritually engaged with the Church, and their judgement is impaired as a result.

If someone knowingly thumbs their nose at the Church and marries outside the Church in spite of having been talked to about it, this is very serious.

But I would consider it to be a virtual impossibility for an Orthodox Christian to undergo an Orthodox wedding without it being considered to be a holy union performed by Christ through the Church. There is no pre-existing union to bless, unless they have been living in sin -- and that would be an anomalous situation. And no matter the circumstances, they are married by and in the Church, and one can't pretend that they weren't.

This is excepting gross cases of coercion, as I have said -- which certainly have happened historically and probably happens today. St. Nikolai of Zhicha, writing in the Prologue, condemns the practice of abducting women for marriage. This was written in the 20th c. by a Serb! I would imagine that such "marriages" could be declared null and void. The practical significance of an annulment in the Orthodox Church would be that the "next" marriage would be considered to be the first -- the ceremony is different for subsequent marriages, and only a maximum of three are possible, so theoretically it might matter to someone.

Of course, we consider *every* remarriage to be a falling short of God's will -- even when one is a widow or widower.