While some may say it’s cliché to get married on Valentine’s Day, one couple in D.C. says it was vital they do so.
“I knew I wanted to marry her from the day that I met her,” D'Angela Howard said. “So, I've been waiting for this day for a long time, so it was a great feeling for me.”
Love was in the air at D.C. Superior Court on Friday as 15 couples said “I do” to their forever valentines, including D’Angela Howard and Antonia Jones.
The courtroom was decked out with V-Day décor.
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“Oh, I love it because nobody gets subpoenaed to come here,” D.C. Marriage Bureau Branch Chief George Barbour said. “Everybody's here because they want to be here. Everybody's happy. Everybody's in love.”
Howard and Jones met online three years ago.
"I was like, 'Why does Facebook have a dating app?'" Jones recalled. But she decided to try it — and clearly, it all worked out.
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Originally, they wanted to get married on their anniversary in August but recently decided they couldn’t wait.
“With the state of the world and with Trump being in office, I don't know what's going to happen,” Howard said.
The couple was fearing the 2015 Supreme Court decision that legalized gay marriage could be overturned with the new administration in the White House.
“I said, 'Let's go ahead and get it done now before he wakes up tomorrow and decides he wants to take away our gay rights,'” Howard said.
The D.C. Superior Court has a history of being a safe haven for couples who worry their love may not be accepted by society.
Hanging on the wall in the waiting room is a copy of the marriage certificate of Mildred and Richard Loving. In 1958, the Lovings, an interracial couple from Virginia, got married in D.C. because — at the time — they couldn’t legally get married in the commonwealth.
The couple later became the subject of landmark Supreme Court case legalizing interracial marriage.
Even though Howard and Jones' wedding day came a lot sooner than expected, they are ready to flaunt that they got married on the most romantic day of the year.
“Now we have a great anniversary date,” Howard said.
