There has to be mutual attraction. Something I found funny with some Christians. They would ask me, "Why should looks matter?" I would tell them, ok, let me tell your wife you didn't marry her for her looks" They stopped me from doing that. LOL
In the Old Testament, if a foreign nation picked a fight with Israel, a distant nation not one of the seven nations they could not intermarry with, and Israel defeated them, they could bring back virgins as slaves. If a man saw a __beautiful__ woman among the slaves, he could marry her after mourning rituals were completed.
The Hebrew word for 'beautiful' does not have to just be about looks, but I think it is a component.
I wanted a pretty one. If I'd have been single until now, I don't think I could marry a stout individual who is showing one's age....like myself. A woman would have to be younger and prettier than I am to be interested. I am glad my wife has kept a youthful appearance and form, amazingly. I went to her high school reunion a few years back in Indonesia, and this woman I met for the first time said to me in Indonesian, "I used to be pretty" or something like that. She'd been talking to my wife about how young she looked. Looks were important to me, but I didn't want to give up other requirements-- virginity, character, etc.-- when I was looking to get looks. It would probably be better to compromise on the looks than that.
If you focus a bit less on looks, though, it might be easier to find a wife.
They say people end up fairly evenly matched for looks. I can't tell if a man is good-looking. I couldn't tell if I was good-looking. My mom told me I was, so I guess I was. She said I was about as good looking as Courtney Cox-- that was back when she was young. That was encouraging...but it was my mom. A friend of mine said when we were young, I was on par with looks with my wife. He didn't say about now, and I didn't ask. She hasn't shown her age much.