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Re: Marriage.
Biblically, a marriage is a contract between a man (the groom), the bride, and the bride's father. The groom's father also has an advisory role, but is not the final authority, it seems.
So for a marriage to be valid in God's eyes there needs to be two or three witnesses and a public declaration of marriage (with the consent of the bride's father or nearest male relative responsible for her, unless there are none) followed by a consummation. The exchange of vows would certainly certainly suffice as the "contractual terms" although they could also just be written out and the two parties publicly affirm their commitment to the terms.
No preacher needed. And the "license" or PERMISSION resides a) in the stipulations of God's Word as to what constitutes marriage and b) in the consent of the bride's father to give her in marriage.
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