Hennepin County, Minnesota’s most populous county and home to the highest population of same-sex couples in the state, announced this week that same-sex couples seeking to marry on or after August 1 can apply for their marriage licenses starting on June 6.

From the Hennepin County website:

In anticipation of the Freedom to Marry law taking effect Aug. 1, the County Board worked with the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office to ensure that accepting applications before Aug. 1, was permissible. The same-sex marriage licenses will not be valid until Aug. 1, the effective date of the new law, but permitting applications to be made in advance allows the county to process the anticipated volume of applications in a timely manner.

Couples can get a discount on the application fee ($40 instead of $115) by completing 12 hours of pre-marital counseling.

For same-sex couples who have already married in another jurisdiction that allows same-sex marriage, those marriage will become valid in Minnesota on Aug. 1. State law does not allow those couples to “remarry,” the Hennepin County website says.

Marriage licenses are only valid for 6 months, meaning the couple who received a license must marry within 6 months or reapply for a new license.