Deciding how and where to get married is one of the most stressful decisions while planning a wedding. For many couples, their date for the wedding revolves around how their wedding will take place.

Every wedding and couple is unique, so it’s best to get married in a way the couple will be comfortable with. This may be by a minister at their church, a family friend or going to the courthouse.

Whether a couple is getting married in a courthouse or having a civil or religious ceremony, they need to go to the courthouse to register for a marriage license. Most states can take up to two weeks for this process to be completed.

According to www.storycountyiowa.gov, in Iowa the wait before being able to pick up a marriage license is at least three days and has a small fee. When going into the courthouse to apply for a marriage license, make sure to have a witness with you to sign it.

Courthouse weddings require couples to arrange a time with a judge and have two witnesses, who need to be at least 18 years old.

Weddings that take place in a church and are performed by a pastor may require premarital counseling. According to www.nwamarriages.com, couples that have premarital counseling are 31 percent less likely to divorce.

Some couples may take a few months in counseling before they feel comfortable that they learned the necessities before tying the knot. Topics for counseling might be problems that the couple feels they may face or are currently having problems with, such as communication, arguing or balancing work and personal life.

Couples who do not have a religious background may look to a family friend who is ordained or ask a friend to become ordained over the Internet to marry them. There are many websites that you can use to become an ordained minister.

One website that can be used is theamm.org. There is a form that needs to be filled out with about 10 demographic questions. Iowa law for ordained ministers is very vague and a certificate showing proof that someone has been ordained is not needed when marrying someone. It costs $10 to get a copy of a certificate.