Day of love

It's the month of love, and what better day to get married than on Valentine's Day? The Ninth Judicial Court District in Curry and Roosevelt counties decided to make the holiday just a bit more special for some couples on Wednesday.

The local courts offered free wedding services on Valentine's Day.

For Lucinda and Spencer Noia, who was at the Curry County Courthouse, getting legally married was something in the works for a long time. The couple has been together for 17 years and have four children together.

"We never had the money, and we just thought, you know, we'll do it someday," Lucinda said.

"We actually had a ceremony planned in March of 2020," Spencer said. "The venue called and said that with COVID, we couldn't have people there... It was devastating."

"I saw this (free weddings) advertised," Lucinda said. "I thought we should just go and do it."

District Judge Drew Tatum was scheduled to perform six weddings at the courthouse on Wednesday. There were also 2 scheduled at the Roosevelt County Courthouse.

Tatum said he loves days like Wednesday, because it's nice to have an event in the courthouse that is a positive and happy one.

"When you come to a wedding, you're seeing two people who obviously love each other a lot, and you are a part of their union in marriage and everlasting love," Tatum said.

The courthouse provided a small wedding cake for each couple, along with a gift card to Juanitos. Flowers were displayed in the courtroom, and each wedding was scheduled to last about thirty minutes, allowing family members to take as many pictures as desired.

For Selestina and Moses Ortiz, getting married before God was something important to them.

"We're just very happy to do it," Selestina said.

The Ortiz's will have a formal wedding in September that they're looking forward to.

Tatum said the courthouse hosted free weddings on Valentine's Day before COVID hit in 2020, and this year was the first time they had done it since then.

When asked if Tatum thinks they'll continue this as an annual tradition again, he said he hoped they would.

"It's so much fun," Tatum said.