No snow day for clerks or cupid

Clara Johnson slides a wedding ring onto her new husband, Timothy's, hand during their wedding ceremony. The couple has been together for about one year. [Photo by Matt Hinshaw/Independent]

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

Probate Judge Tommy L. Nelson watches Danton Portley kiss his new bride, Louise, after performing their wedding ceremony at the McKinley County Courthouse on Wednesday afternoon. The couple has been together for three and half years and decided to get married on Valentine's Day. [Photo by Matt Hinshaw/Independent]

GALLUP — Wednesday's snow storm may have shut down the local schools and closed other court offices, but it couldn't stop the romance from flowing in the McKinley County Clerk's office.

For the third year, the county clerk's staff staged dozens of quick but romantic Valentine's Day marriage ceremonies in the rotunda of the new courthouse.

This year the staff created an even more elaborate setting that featured gauzy white drapery, flowers, candles, twinkling lights, pink and white balloons, wedding cupcakes, and souvenirs. There were even three decorated wedding arches so the couples could enter the rotunda through one arch, exchange their vows before another arch, and pose for photographs in front of a third arch.

According to Deputy Clerk Luis A. Ledezma, who proposed the idea of the Valentine's Day wedding marathon three years ago, many courthouse staff members worked late into the evening on Tuesday to decorate the rotunda and finalize all the event's details.

"It really takes the whole courthouse to put it together," he explained.

The result was pretty enough as well as quick enough and efficient enough to impress Las Vegas wedding chapel patrons.

But McKinley County offered something Las Vegas most probably lacks: a bilingual judge who can perform ceremonies in English, Navajo, or a mixture of both. In addition to his bilingual skills, Probate Judge Tommy L. Nelson offered a few preliminary jokes to help calm the jitters of some of the more nervous brides and grooms.

However, as nice as it was, Wednesday's event won't go into the history books for its record number of newlyweds. That title still goes to Valentine's Day 2006, which featured great weather and more than 80 couples. This year's snow storm caused a morning delay, some cancellations, and a drastically reduced number of walk-in wedding parties.

Ledezma, who also put his bilingual Spanish speaking skills to use in one wedding ceremony, wasn't able to provide a final total by the time the last ceremony was wrapping up at the end of the day. More than 30 couples had shown up for reserved appointment times, he said, but the number of walk-ins would have to be added into the total on Thursday.

However, one record may have been set this year. According to Ledezma, a couple showed up with a marriage license that was issued to them in 1995.

"A license is still valid until it's expedited upon," he said, adding that the document was still in good condition. Ledezma said he didn't ask the couple why they waited 12 years to get married.

Another couple, Michelle and Charleston Willie, only applied for their license recently but said they had been together for 13 years. The couple, who brought along 15 family members but forgot the marriage license, said they heard about the McKinley County event last year and decided to tie the knot this year. A cousin was dispatched to retrieve the forgotten license while Michelle waited nervously in her ivory wedding dress.

Another bride, Elta Yazzie, a nurse from Crownpoint, arrived in slightly less formal wedding attire. Yazzie wore medical scrubs that featured red hearts printed on the fabric. To complement the Valentine's Day theme, she wore heart-shaped earrings and a necklace that were gifts from her soon- to-be husband, Bob Miller.

After a long day of weddings, Judge Nelson and the county clerk staff prepared to close up shop as Yazzie and Miller's ceremony concluded. In contrast, Yazzie, who took off time from work to get married, said she would be returning to the hospital to complete her nursing shift.