Weddings for less than $100 for Holiday sale
By: David ZHENG

Its not every day that you walk past the Main Street Flea Market and bump into a bride sporting a wedding dress.


But this was Valentines Day so anything goes. And that includes the Hawaiian shirt worn by the groom and the tiny county clerks room in Martinez where Jamie Harrison and Larry Herrington got married Wednesday morning.


All it takes to enter this converted conference room of love is $94 and a man and woman ready for a life of eternal bliss.


And 27 couples did just that on Valentines Day the busiest time of the year for the Contra Costa County clerks who process passport applications one minute and perform marriage ceremonies the next.


You dont walk down the aisle here said Assistant County Recorder Barbara Chambers who has 5000 ceremonies under her robe and well dealing in designer wedding dresses wedding dress shops cheap wedding dresses etc you walk down the hallway by the file folders.


In fact to get from the lobby to the ceremony room you walk by a couple desks up a ramp past the shelves of fictitious business files hang a right at the robe rack and youre at the destination for five minutes of matrimony.


At the HarrisonHerrington wedding eight relatives squeezed into the room decorated with two burning candles a shiny red heart hanging on the white wall and a bouquet of flowers in front of the altar err conference table.


When they closed the door there was no room for the brides father to sit down.


Im standing in front of the door so no one escapes he said.


After a quick set of vows and an exchange of rings Herrington kissed his bride and posed for photos. He was excited to have the ceremony over and to lock in Feb. 14 as their anniversary.


Ive got a bad memory when it comes to dates said Herrington a 42yearold carpenter. I cant mess this up.


And when it was all over they got a steal of a deal far

less than the $25000 average bill racked up for American weddings. After the $64 marriage license all it costs for a civil ceremony is $30 and they even throw in a heartimprinted commemorative certificate and a baggy of Hersheys Kisses for free! Cost runs slightly more for a wedding at the Alameda County clerks office where the ceremonyandlicense package deal goes for $134.


Twentytwo couples exchanged vows there on Wednesday.


Its the day couples are supposed to be in love 20yearold bride Kayleen Buaphan said at the Oakland office.


In Martinez brides and grooms lined up for ceremonies every 15 minutes. Abbe Sultan and Sanaz Bahrami walked past samesex marriage advocates and opponents holding signs to get inside the clerks office.


For the young Antioch couple getting married on Valentines Day was yet another holiday to add to their romantic milestones. Their first date happened on Flag Day last year a night of dinner theater at Teatro ZinZanni in San Francisco. And they got engaged near the Half Dome trailhead on Christmas.


Sultans explanation for the Valentines Day anniversary was common among men. Hey I get a twoforone right said Sultan an insurance business owner who donned a tan threepiece suit. I only have to buy roses on one day. No; I used to hate Valentines Day but I wanted to switch it around.


Its the first of three weddings for them. The couple is saving up for a traditional church ceremony next year and then yet another wedding this one in Iran for Bahramis relatives to attend.


Bahrami met her husbandtobe when she needed to insure her 2004 Honda Accord. He set her up with a policy and made sure he provided topnotch customer service calling just about every day to see if she received paperwork. And that was all over the phone.


She sounded sweet and then months later I saw her picture on MySpace and I looked up and said Thank you he recalled. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.
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