'Maybe it's meant to be:' Valentine's Day couples say 'I do'
He wore a guayabrera wedding shirt. She came in a full-length satin and tulle dress with a veil made by her mother.
They gazed into each other’s eyes under an arch decorated with faux wisteria at the Ventura County Government Center. They pledged their enduring love before more than a dozen friends and family members, her voice catching slightly on tears.
“I do,” John Carrillo said.
“I do,” Brenda Phearson repeated.
The Camarillo couple celebrated their wedding with a long kiss on Valentine’s Day at a County Clerk-Recorder’s Office dressed up in hearts, roses and arrows. On what is almost always their busiest day of the year, the staff was booked to perform 19 weddings and hand out another six marriage licenses. At a county office in Thousand Oaks, 12 couples were set to be married or pick up licenses.
Carrillo and Phearson, who have been together for three years, talked about this day for months.
“We figured it’s the day of love,” she said. Carrillo agreed and cited another advantage.
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“It’s an easy day to remember for anniversaries,” he said.
The marriage license cost $98 and the ceremony cost $50, with a witness included. Those propelled by spontaneity could even buy sterling silver rings for $10, with or without crystal-like bling.
Some came just for the paperwork, a few not realizing it was Valentine’s Day.
“I completely forgot about that,” Jose Alvarez said. The Oxnard man is marrying Charlene Van Slambrouck on Saturday at the cross in Grant Park above Ventura.
Martha Solarez and Luis Trevino, both of Oxnard, met at work four years ago and have long planned to marry. They made appointments three times but different events interrupted each time.
“Finally, we said. ‘Let’s do it,'” Solarez said. This time their appointment fell on Valentine’s Day. “We were like, ‘Wow.’ I said maybe it’s meant to be.”
Clerk staff handed out complimentary roses to brides and planned to post photos of the couples on Instagram. Eder Espinoza walked couples through their pledges. As a deputy commissioner of civil marriages, he’s performed more than 1,000 ceremonies. Sometimes, he listens to rock ballads or other songs of romance “just to get in the mood.”
Espinoza married Jacinto Gomez and Yaquelin Torres in Spanish. Gomez lives in Newbury Park but will move to Tomball, Texas, to be with her. They met four months ago while attending a quinceañera in Florida.
“I thought I’m going to marry him,” she remembered. The proposal came soon after. “I asked him. I’m an Aries. What can I say?”
They exchanged vows in the wedding room named for former County Clerk-Recorder Mark A. Lunn. Torres' hands trembled slightly. They kissed and then hugged the friends who came as witnesses. The moment culminated a Valentine’s Day Torres took a shot at describing moments earlier.
“A very unique day,” she said.
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com or 805-437-0255.
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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura County couples say 'I do' on Valentine's Day
