TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Forget The Chapel! They're Going To The Clerk's Office

Tribune photo by JAY NOLAN

David Reyes, 46, and Deneb Ehmig, 33, were the first to be married by Clerk Pat Frank.

ADVERTISEMENT

By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 14, 2008

TAMPA - They came in as individuals and left as pairs. An assembly line of wedding ceremonies cranked out a bunch of married couples at the Hillsborough County clerk's office this morning.

Clerk Pat Frank said there typically is a spike in ceremonies on Valentine's Day.

Inside the rectangular room on the sixth floor of the office building in downtown, the white walls were adorned with love paraphernalia: shiny cutout red hearts, Cupid figures. An arbor stood at one end of the room. That's where the happy couples stood while getting hitched.

For an hour this morning, ceremonies were performed by Frank herself. Couples streamed in and out. Each got a rose, a piece or two of candy (Hershey Kisses, mostly); the first five got Whitman Samplers. Brides-to-be had a choice of three silk bouquets on the table next to the window.

David Reyes, 46, and Deneb Ehmig, 33, were the first to be married by Frank. Both beamed as Frank pronounced them husband and wife.

"My hope is that your life is as happy as mine with my husband of 56 years," Frank said.

The Reyeses said they met on the Internet on Jan. 14, 2007.

"This date is our 13-month anniversary," she said. "We wanted to make it special." David was in the military in Africa when they met, and Deneb was teaching in Colombia.

"The whole universe conspired, and we met," she said. "This is like a big, huge fairy tale."

Frank, dressed in a bright red skirt and jacket and white turtleneck, said she started marrying people on Valentine's Day last year.

The same scenario was playing itself out across Tampa Bay, as 37 couples were scheduled to say their "I do's" this afternoon at the clerk's office in Clearwater. They're doing it all at once, though.

Clerk Ken Burke is scheduled to perform a group wedding ceremony at 2 p.m. at the county courthouse in downtown Clearwater, 315 Court St.

Burke is waiving the $30 fee his office ordinarily collects to perform a courthouse wedding ceremony. Not only that but couples will get a free wedding photo valued at $10.

The outdoor ceremony, including a barbershop quartet, will be held between the old and new courthouses.

Reporter Carlos Moncada contributed to this report. Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT