So you have found that special someone and you have proposed (or been proposed to) in some romantic way and you are about to embark on a life of bliss together. Hopefully you will, but in the meantime you should know that in a legal sense, marriage is a contract and in order to enter into that contract you are going to need a license to do that. There are a few things that you will need to know before you get started.

First of all, make sure that both parties that are about to contract in this union are able to. That may sound like it is an obvious one, but if divorce records are needed to be obtained then you might as well go about doing that first. It is not hard to do, and can usually be done on the internet in a manner of minutes.

You will also have some choices to make, depending on your situation. You may or may not know that some states allow what are called secret marriages, which usually require consent from the parents, not to mention a decree by a judge. That may not be for you but you may also need to know who you would need to bring as witnesses. Also, unless you are doing it in a fairly traditional way, you might need to find out if someone who is to perform the ceremony is legally able to conduct a marriage in your area.

You had better check as well how long your marriage license will be valid from the time that you apply for it. Generally this would be for a 30 day period but this is something that you would really want to make sure of. Imagine all your guests arriving on your wedding day to find out you are past the deadline. Dont let that happen.