Cupid on the clock with four couples exchanging Valentine's wedding vows at City Hall

WORCESTER — This Valentine’s Day, four couples said “I do” to a future together inside the confines of City Hall.

On the second floor where residents pay their excise taxes and water bills, pick up birth and death certificates and sign up to register to vote, Toni Thompson, who lives just outside of Vancouver, Canada, and Lindsey Clarkson of Barre took the marriage plunge.

“We just had my birthday. So I’m all about February,” Clarkson said. “I’m like, 'Valentine’s Day would be perfect.'”

The two met online and have been a couple for a little less than a year.

Thompson said she fell in love with her wife’s “love for our kids” and their shared “sense of humor.

“She got my sense of humor, which is important because not everybody does,” Thompson said.

“She’s an amazing mom to her children and now mine,” Clarkson said about Thompson. “She’s a hard worker and great person.”

Both women have two children from previous relationships. Now they share a love nest with four children.

The Thompsons are planning a big reception in Canada and later in the summer the couple plan to go on their honeymoon.

The couple will be moving to Washington state.

“I’m just feeling really blessed today,” Thompson said.

“Just follow your heart,” Clarkson added.

Combined, deputy city clerks A.J. Pottle and Clare Robbins performed four weddings Valentine’s Day this year. Both agreed that they usually see three weddings at City Hall on a daily basis, but on this traditional sweetheart’s holiday, they had one more than average.

“We have weddings most days here. Definitely,” Pottle said. “I wouldn’t say there’s more (weddings) than usual on Valentine’s Day. There’s demand for them, for sure. People do reach out and Valentine’s Day is a popular day for them.”

“We perform weddings here at City Hall. Usually do about three a day. We do them every day during the week. And people from all different background, different groups, come in,” Robbins said. “Sometimes, it’s two people. Sometimes, it’s a whole family. So, it’s really nice. Today, a special day to see them here. It’s an exciting day and it’s a nice little break from work. You get to go to have a nice celebration.”

When it comes to wedding nuptials, City Hall is not like going to the Graceland Wedding Chapel on the Las Vegas Strip. First off, there’s no Elvis impersonator nor cheesy accordion. The biggest difference is you can’t stumble into City Hall with someone you just met at the craps table and expect to get hitched. There is a process, Robbins said.

“You have to apply for the marriage license,” Robbins said. “You select a date with our marriage clerk and then you come in and we perform the ceremony. It just takes about five minutes for the actual ceremony.”

Although Bruce Springsteen famously sang about less than happy nuptials done in a municipal building with “no wedding day smiles, no walks down the aisles, no flowers, no wedding dress,” there were plenty of smiles as well as elegant wedding dresses in City Hall Wednesday afternoon.

Robbins, who said she's a believer of romance, said she loves conducting weddings at City Hall.

"I usually follow a similar script each time. It depends on the couple,” Robbins said. “I like to be able to take part in somebody’s special day.”Roberto Lugo and Suzanna Bhatty were together for two years before tying the knot Valentine’s Day.

“It’s Valentine’s Day and he proposed to me on Valentine’s Day last year,” Bhatty said.

When asked what made him fall in love with his bride, Lugo said, “Everything. Her beauty, her love.

“She takes care of me,” Lugo said. “You name it. She does it.”

“He’s hardworking,” Bhatty said of her husband. “He shows care and love and loyalty, and especially cares about my daughter.”

The Lugos said the City Hall nuptials are a precursor of a big ceremony with 40 of their closest family and friends this summer in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

“That will be the destination wedding,” Bhatty said of Punta Cana. “That’s going to be symbolic out there.”

The couple live in and plan to stay in Worcester.

Telegram & Gazette enhancement editor Sarah Barnacle contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Four couples exchange wedding vows on Valentine's Day at City Hall