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To go against my earlier post somewhat, I think we have to take it as read that 'Laws & Customs' relates mainly to the Eldar in Valinor. In Arda things may have been very different - Tolkien implies as much - due to the much more dangerous situation the Elves found themselves in. Certainly Elrond was much older than fifty when he married Celebrian.
Its been stated elswhere that the probable reason there were no Elf children born during the later Third Age was due to the growing sense of hopelessness & the deepening sense of not belonging in Middle earth that the Elves felt. Probably true. Having children implies commitment - not just to the spouse but to the world & its future. Feeling that their time in the world was over, that (like Niggle) they soon had a journey to make, probably inspired in them a desire to finish their (percieved) tasks in Middle earth & have their bags packed, ready to leave.
I suspect that this also played a part in their 'passivity' - they knew that soon they would be leaving. In that situation it can be difficult to commit to anything. I suppose in a way, this sense of an oncoming end of their time in Middle earth was the closest thing an Elf could experience to 'mortality'. It was like they knew they were going to 'die' & go to 'Paradise' - albeit an 'Earthly' one. There must have been an incredible sense of 'failure', which probably produced their feelings that all they were doing was 'fighting the long defeat', 'many defeats & many fruitless victories' as Elrond put it.
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