85 couples stand up for love on Valentine's Day
Cameron Jahn, Sacramento Bee
February 15, 2005

As Heidi Roulet tells it, she hit the triple jackpot Monday: Valentine's Day, which is her birthday, and the day she married Jeff Laible.

After a simple civil ceremony at the Sacramento County Clerk Recorder's Office downtown, the newly minted Mrs. Laible walked down Eighth Street, flowing white gown dragging behind, gushing about the tall, 45-year-old man she met three years ago in Jackson while helping him move.

"Both of us have been with a lot of people in our lives, but this is different -- we have a passion, not just love and sex, but a real passion for one another," said Heidi Laible, 31, a wide grin stretched across her face. "And we planned this out for a long time to do it on my birthday."

On a day centered around love and affection, about 85 couples took their vision of romance to a new level Monday, marking their commitment with an official civil ceremony.

In increasing numbers, couples like the Laibles are choosing civil marriage ceremonies on Valentine's Day, for the built-in romance as well as for expediency and low price. A five-minute ceremony with a marriage license: $101.

The Clerk Recorder's Office saw a spike Monday in the number of civil ceremonies conducted by certified wedding commissioners such as Wanda Harling, who administered the Laibles' vows. Last Valentine's Day, the office conducted about 60 ceremonies, compared with about 70 the year before.

The office extended its hours to 8 p.m. Monday to accommodate the eager couples and their families.

Adam Crockett and Lindsey Contino, both 20, didn't need the extra time. They were in a bit of a rush to tie the knot Monday afternoon.

Crockett, a senior airman in the Air Force, has to fly back to his North Dakota base Wednesday. Contino, an airman stationed at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, hopes to be stationed with her husband as soon as possible.

They've spent a total of two weeks together during their two-month relationship.

"That's not counting the $400 phone bills," Contino said.

Joe Cable and Sabrina Weiss chose Monday to get married in order to give meaning to what they consider an otherwise unremarkable day.

"Valentine's Day is pretty lame," said Cable, 27. "But it's fantastic now, because the day will mean something."

"We joked about getting married on Valentine's Day for a while," said Weiss, 21, resting her hands on her abdomen, bulging with twin girls due March 25. "Plus, we didn't have time to plan a wedding."

Monday also marked the one-year anniversary of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's issue of marriage licenses to gay couples, a move that sparked outrage, admiration, court cases and national attention. The state Supreme Court later invalidated the 4,000 same-sex marriages performed in San Francisco.

Proponents of same-sex marriage demonstrated Monday outside the Sacramento Clerk Recorder's Office. Kinna Patel, a volunteer with Equality California, encouraged gay couples to enter the office and ask for a marriage license -- in order to be denied.

State law prohibits gay marriages, although homosexual couples are allowed to register as domestic partners and receive certain benefits afforded heterosexual married couples.

"We say no to civil unions and no to domestic partnerships because no matter if we get all the same rights, it's inherently unequal," Patel said.

Meanwhile, opponents of same-sex marriage gathered at the Capitol to rally around a strict definition of marriage.

"The rules of marriage are very fair: You can marry anyone you want, as long as you're of age and not closely related and a member of the opposite sex," said Randy Thomasson, a spokesman for the Campaign for Children and Families. "You cannot create counterfeit marriage without watering down marriage of everyone else."