If you can come to an agreement, it is possible to divorce without lawyers or mediation, or to divorce with lawyers but with a minimum of drama and acrimony. Mediation can sometimes help, but it can also become expensive - sometimes it amounts to your each paying 1/2 of the mediator's fee instead of the full lawyer's fee to work through the process; sometimes it ends up being an add-on. It depends on the parties and the facts.