That is, indeed, the time frame to which I was referring. I would even continue to a few years past the death arc. The quality started to deteriorate as the new millennium approached.
I wish my library system had a Hoopla subscription; I've made the request, but nothing has come of it so far.
The trades are better than nothing, but the original comics are definitely preferable. My understanding is that not only do the trades skip some issues, they also prune the included issues to try to present a single, unified story. Although that is necessary for the change in format, it loses the rich tapestry in the original comics. One of the things I loved about that time is that while one story is playing out, there might be some foreshadowing of and allusions to several other stories. As with real life, problems overlap, what becomes the focus of one's attention may change, but that doesn't mean that the everything else stands still. I suspect that if you only read the trades, you would miss the rich tapestry.
I would not read just the issues around the wedding by themselves. If you don't know what is leading up to the wedding, if you don't know the what the characters are like and what they have experienced recently, you would miss out on a lot.
Joy,
Lynn
