Applying H4 before marriage and prior to stamping H1 extension

I am currently working in US with H1 visa. It was expired on July 2014 and i have applied for extension and got approved till 2017. I need to travel to India for my marriage on 9 Nov 2014 and hence I need to for stamping. My travel plan is only for 4 weeks. And as per employer, they wont apply H4 until i get my marriage certificate. But i have read some posts in this site and it is fine to apply before actual marriage date and the appear for interview after the marriage is over. So i am planning to apply H4 myself for my fiance.

My questions are:

  1. Since I need to get my visa stamped yet, is it ok to apply for H4 prior to my H1B extension getting stamped.

  2. Can I proceed to file DS160 for H1 extension and H4 at the same time.

  3. Can I start the interview scheduling process for both of us together before the marriage date.(but i would be going for stamping only after the marriage date after obtaining the marriage certificate).

  4. How sooner can i get a interview date.