Post #6: Love and Marriage, pt. 2
- Michelle Ascencion
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
The fifth wedding I officiated as the County Commissioner of Civil Marriages was also the biggest: our Valentine's Day Group Wedding Ceremony on February 14, 2026!
Sometime in Fall 2025, the management team and I were in our regular weekly meeting, where we discuss the pressing matters of the day as well as look ahead to upcoming deadlines, when I said, "It's never too early to start thinking about Valentine's Day," since that is always the busiest wedding day of the year in our office. Someone checked the calendar and saw that unfortunately it would fall on a Saturday in 2026, when we would be closed. We did some brainstorming and started playing with the idea of opening for a few hours to be able to still provide this important service for the community.
An idea was born: we made plans with the rest of the County Clerk team, revising the plan countless times, until we were finally ready to start advertising it to the community.
The afternoon before, our team decorated the venue - the atrium of the Hall of Administration at the Government Center - moving furniture, making flower arrangements, testing the sound system, and setting up lights and tables and beautiful backdrops for photos.
Finally the big day came and everyone was so excited. When the 12 couples began arriving with their families, a beautiful nervousness filled the air. Some of them were young and marrying for the first time, others older and finding love anew. Our bilingual ceremony ensured everyone could participate and follow along with each line being carefully translated by my co-officiant. My family even helped out: my husband rolled up his sleeves right along with us, my daughters helped with photography, and one daughter's boyfriend played beautiful classical guitar to set the mood. After the ceremony we got everyone's paperwork finalized as quickly as possible, and then they were free to start their new lives together.
The County Clerk Team was blessed and honored to host this special event, and we had fun doing it too! We started to think, "What about next year?" Another quick calendar check made us rule out the idea of a Group Wedding in 2027: not only would Valentine's Day land on Sunday, it was Super Bowl Sunday - definitely a no-go!
Hopefully the next time Valentine's Day lands on a Saturday, we can make our group wedding event even bigger and better!
💕Michelle Ascencion
