What are my qualifications for getting married. I will tell you what I have told my daughters, in no particular order;
You should be at least 22 or 23. {My reasoning: By this age the brain is pretty will fully developed and you have completed college, assuming you went. You have experienced much and grown into an adult.}
You should have been dating for at least two years. {My reasoning: It takes time to get know somebody. Studies have shown that those who dated for a minimum of 2 years prior to marriage have a lower divorce rate.}
Listen to your friends and family about your choice. {My reasoning: We sometimes get so wrapped up with the emotions of being in a relationship we fail to see what is clear to others. You don't have to follow their advice, but you should listen.}
Marry somebody close to your own age. {My reasoning: Life's a dance you learn as you go. Its nice to go through it with somebody who is in the same place in life as you are.}
Pray about it. {My reasoning: I believe in God and think that it is wise to pray about big decisions.}
Be friends first and best. {My reasoning: I have heard it said that after about two years of marriage, that romantic notion of love has all but expired and all your left with is the person as they actually are. If you don't like that person, tings will end badly. If you life that person, if they are your friend, then you can always talk to them and its much easier to stay in love with them over time.}
Ideally, you should both be virgins {My reasoning: You will have the rest of your lives together to figure out sex. If you have no preconceived notions about what sex should be, then you have something to look forward to figuring out together.}
Be prepared to compromise and live as one. {My reasoning: You are going to be living with another person and you will need to be able to say I'm sorry and you're forgiven and compromise on what to buy and where to go on vacation.}
Talk about do you squeeze the toothpaste from the middle or end and does toilet paper come off the front or back of the roll.{My reasoning: As funny and superficial as this may sound, some of the worst fights couples have are over these two very issues. What happens is that they never learned to talk and these little pet peeves build up until one day the toilet paper sets them off and a major blow up follows. By talking about it before hand you learn to talk to each other about the most trivial of things and work out your differences.}
There may be more but that is where I start. Each relationship is different and they need to find their own way. That said, I can hope to provide some hard one wisdom to save them from the mistakes I made.