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Government Helps Tie Knots

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By KEITH MORELLI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 15, 2008

Updated: 02/15/2008 01:11 am

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 court clerk's office Thursday.
Clerk of the Circuit Court 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 downtown, the white walls were adorned with love paraphernalia: shiny, cut-out red hearts and Cupid figures. An arbor stood at one end of the room. That's where the happy couples stood while getting hitched.

For an hour Thursday morning, ceremonies were performed by Frank. Couples streamed in and out. Each got a rose and a piece or two of candy. Brides-to-be had a choice of three silk bouquets on a table next to the window.

David Reyes, 46, and Deneb Ehmig, 33, were the first to be married by Frank. Both beamed as she 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," Deneb 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."

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