I'm only studying Japanese, but I think you can just do the sentence like that without 、 or anything in-between.

I do assume (2) is the proper answer for whatever question this is, and is easily most common.... but すごく前から also gets a lot of Google hits. So I wonder about that? Sounds not super terrible to me. とても前から also gets at least a few G-hits.... but it sounds pretty strange to my ear, but I'm curious to know from a native speaker's perspective.

In most cases they can be used interchangeably as synonyms with basically no difference. (To my ear, personally, "begin" has a slightly more formal/classy sound to it, however) There are just a few cases where you CANNOT interchange them. For instance: START the (car) engine -- you can't say "begin" the engine That's the main exception I can think of off the top of my head.

Just to add onto James' answer there.... To the effect of what he wrote, note that "wish that" takes a subjunctive verb! (precisely because those wishes aren't possible)

I know that song!!

I think it requires full-on, no-doubts, no-mind-changing commitment and, yes, love, but not the way "love" can be typically portrayed. Loving someone is an action, not just an emotion. I may not like my husband all that much, feel angry or disappointed at him sometimes, but I can still choose to do my best to love him. Plus, of course, a certain amount of compatibility definitely goes a long way- not only in the sense of doing/enjoying the same things, but also in the way that one person's character strengths and weaknesses can complement the other's. That's my take. (:

Not quite- The "Applied Design" exhibit just opened on the Saturday before that article was written and will be open until January 2014. It doesn't mean that the museum is only open on Saturdays.

Both sound perfectly good to me! Though, personally, I would be more likely to use the first.