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February 14, 2018 Slideshows » News

Dozens of Couples Legally Wed at Bexar County Courthouse on Valentine's Day

By San Antonio Current Staff

        
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"You’re all welcome here, you’re all loved here, and thank you for being here," Judge Gerard Rickhoff told the 49 couples standing in front of the Bexar County Courthouse on Valentine’s Day, just after 2 p.m.

The couples were all there to be married simultaneously in the fourth free wedding ceremony wave of the day, a tradition the Bexar County Courthouse has embraced the past couple of years.

Cheers erupted, smiles widened, and eyes teared when Judge Rickhoff pronounced the spouses legally wed. One onlooker shouted, "Let’s see the rings!"

"It just felt like love," Michon Hudson, a bride, told the Current. "At this time, love is needed, and that's what we felt like we wanted to share."

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Judge Gerard Rickhoff shared that his parents' anniversary was also February 14. "I'm one of seven children, so it was a very fine marriage. They were married well in excess of 50 years," he said.

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Couples just before saying "I do" in the free mass wedding ceremony in front of the Bexar County Courthouse.

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The crowd of couples after being pronounced legally wed.

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Alondra and Christopher Garcia exchanging rings during the ceremony.

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Cindy and Latham Roldan sealing the deal with a kiss. "I just felt like we all have the same energy all at once. Everyone's happy, everyone's excited and nervous," Cindy said.

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Cindy and Latham Roldan have been together for six years, and he proposed to her two years ago on Valentine's Day. "I'm very happy. Finally made it official! We've been saying we're gonna make it official for a long time now, but today was the day," Cindy said.

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Emrys and Samantha Van Cleave shortly after being pronounced legally wed.

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Emrys and Samantha Van Cleave after the wedding. "Our photographer—she takes all of our family photos— told us they do this in town every year, and so we wanted to be a part of the tradition," Samantha said. "I thought it was super fun."

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Michon and Joseph Hudson III after the ceremony. "For some reason, 14 is our number," Michon said. "We've always been surrounded around the number 14, so we just thought you know what, this is a great time — February 14, Valentine's Day."

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Christina Rosales and Aracely Salazar were one of the couples who said "I do" in front of the courthouse. "We've been engaged for like, five years, and we could never find something to accommodate everyone from our families, so we were like we need to do something that's gonna fit us. So we were like let's just do it real quick here. It's on a special day," Aracely said.

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Alondra and Christopher Garcia buying a paleta from a paletero outside the courthouse after the ceremony.

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"It's really exciting because there's a lot of older couples, a lot of newer couples, lesbian couples. To be joined with a lot of people and feel the love for everybody and everybody's applauding you, it's like — oh, okay, everybody loves us!" Alondra said.

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Susana and Chad Worthan on the steps after the ceremony. "We started dating three years ago on Valentine's Day, and we got engaged a year ago on Valentine's Day, so we decided that it would be a good idea to get married on the same day," Susana said.

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Susana and Chad Worthan with their children Zachary and Emily after the ceremony. "We wanted to do something different, not the traditional big huge wedding thing. I heard about this Valentine's Day thing and said, we need to go get married with other crazy couples," Susana said.

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Leslye and Rick Urias with their two-week old daughter Livana. "We had our family going, so we just said hey, you know, we're gonna tie the knot because we're not gonna do that whole us not being together thing," Rick said. "I'm very happy, excited. My feet hurt!" Leslye said.

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