Hundreds of couples tied the knot during free mass wedding ceremonies held on the steps of the Bexar County Courthouse on Valentine’s Day.
County Clerk Lucy Adame-Clark presided over the weddings at midnight, 10 a.m., noon, and 2 p.m.
“They've been performing ceremonies here on these steps since 1989, so to this day it’s been 30 years,” Adame-Clark said.
One of the couples were Natasha Clontz and Franco Aseguin. They first bonded over jokes about the bad sandwich he ordered from her at the Huntsville, Texas, shop where she worked during college.
“I made him a sandwich. It was a nasty sandwich,” Clontz said. “It was a nasty sandwich,” Aseguin agreed.
Ansley Jenkins and Michael Halleck were also among the newlyweds.
She had this advice for anyone looking for true love: Don’t look too hard for it.
“When you try too hard, you find people who aren’t really there for the right reasons, so just work on yourself,” she explained.
If you would like to get hitched next Valentine’s Day during one of the mass wedding ceremonies, here's some advice from the county clerk's website:
Couples should obtain a marriage license 72 hours prior to the ceremony they choose to attend, unless:
1. An applicant is a member of the U.S. armed forces and is on active duty; or
2. The applicants complete a premarital education course approved by the state of Texas and provide the course completion certificate to the County Clerk; or
3. A judge waives the waiting period for good cause.
Marriage licenses can be obtained from the Bexar County Clerk’s Office on the first floor of the Paul Elizondo Tower at 101 W. Nueva St., Suite 120. The fee for a marriage license is $81 (cash only), and both applicants must provide proof of identity and age as well as their Social Security number (if any). The Clerk’s Office is open from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
For more information on obtaining a marriage license, call 210-335-2223 or visit www.bexar.org/CountyClerk.
Brian Kirkpatrick can be reached at Brian@TPR.org and on Twitter at @TPRBrian.
