Heat Raises Urge to Hitch to Fever Pitch

Donald Watson, 21, looked nervous as he held his fiancee’s hand at the counter of the county Marriage License Division in Santa Ana. “I’m just ready to go,” growled the Marines Corps helicopter mechanic.

The groom’s rolled-up shirt sleeves--after all, it’s July--revealed a tattoo on his shoulder: Til Death Do Us Part. The 19-year-old bride wore jeans. Two minutes later, Watson and Stacy Underwood were bound in matrimony.

Maybe it’s the heat, but as summertime temperatures soar, so do the number of marriages performed at the Courthouse.

“It’s only 3:30 p.m., and do you know how many I had today?” asked Cindy Ramirez, a county clerk who was marrying people on a recent Friday. “Twenty-two!

“It’s been so busy,” she added, waving the next eager couple forward. “Summer is our busiest time.”

A line of more than 20 couples stretched from the counter into the hallway.

Highest-Ever Total

The number of marriage licenses issued in the county this year is expected to be the highest ever, exceeding last year’s total of 21,306. And that was an increase of 1,365 over the year before.

Over-the-counter marriage ceremonies are also more popular than ever. In June, typically the busiest month, more than 2,000 couples bought their $35 marriage licenses in Orange County, and 315 of them paid $15 extra to be wed by a marriage commissioner right there in the Courthouse office. Since 1979, when just 673 couples got hitched at the courthouse, the numbers have increased every year, reaching 4,131 in 1987.

“It’s just a civil ceremony,” said Phyllis Hanson, supervisor of the 10 clerks at the Courthouse who are deputized as marriage commissioners, but the results are as binding as any other ceremony.

Hanson, who has headed the marriage bureau for 20 years, offered a decidedly unromantic explanation for the increase in nuptials.

The service once was performed by reservation in an office behind the Fictitious Names counter where new businesses are registered, she said. The clerks even donned robes for the ceremony. But things got too backed up.

So, in 1980, the format changed. Today, it’s first come, first served.

“They don’t have to have appointments,” Hanson said. “We make it easy on them.”

The handy service attracted Richard Mares, 24, and Melody Tucker, 19, who drove down to Santa Ana from Los Angeles, where courthouse appointments are required.

A wooden lattice painted white with red hearts identified the marriage window at the counter. Red silk roses and carnations in a glass vase set the mood.

Marriage commissioner Ramirez smiled and led them through the vows.

“Melody, do you take Richard to be your lawful wedded husband?” Ramirez asked.

Too nervous to say “I do,” the bride nodded as a tear filled one eye.

“I felt shaky,” she said later, moments after kissing her husband of 60 seconds.

“We couldn’t find another courthouse,” Richard said. “The other courthouses were booked up through August.”

The absence of family, tuxedos and a waiting limousine left the newlyweds unfazed. “We want to marry in a church later on,” Melody said.

“And we love each other,” Richard said. “The same as in a church. And that’s what counts, isn’t it?”

Some of the couples probably cannot afford a big wedding, Hanson said, and many choose the Courthouse ceremony to save money for the reception or honeymoon.

Christine Eastwood, Hanson’s supervisor, is also involved in processing files for divorces and other kinds of civil lawsuits.

“I’ve done a lot of divorces,” she said. “It’s rare in a government office (when) you get a crowd that is this large and happy. I usually see a lot of sad things. It’s a pleasure to do something nice, like in here.”

Even the Hells Angels motorcycle gang wedding was a pleasant experience, Eastwood recalled: “They parked the Harleys outside.”

Ceremonies can be fast, especially when they have to be.

Several months ago, a woman went into labor as the marriage ceremony began. So what happened? “You talk faster,” Eastwood said.

Under the siege conditions of summer Fridays, most clerks prefer the 183-word ceremony, which can be recited in less than 2 minutes. A 10-minute version is also available.

“The girls do their best to make it nice,” Eastwood said about the clerks.

So many languages are spoken in Orange County that understanding is sometimes a problem. Hanson speaks English and Spanish, which were of little use recently when a Cambodian couple came in.

In such cases, couples are asked to bring along their own interpreter. “We want the couple to know what they are doing,” she said.

Sometimes, marriages can get off to a rocky start.

“One commissioner started the ceremony three different times,” Hanson recalled. “At the critical point, the couple would say ‘No’ and go outside the door. The fourth time they got through the whole thing.”

But this happy story had a less than happy ending.

“Fifteen minutes later, they were back in asking to cancel everything,” Hanson said. “We can’t do that.”

She looked over as a young couple in T-shirts stepped away from the counter after their wedding ceremony. It was sweltering inside the room. Several people in the thinning line applauded and called out congratulations.

The newlyweds walked down the hallway. In one arm, mom carried a baby girl. Dad pushed a baby boy in a stroller. Holding hands, they stopped for a kiss and a moment alone before going out into the sunshine.

Hanson peered after them and smiled.

“Isn’t this a nice place?” she said.

GETTING A LICENSE

-- Where: Orange County Superior Court, 700 Civic Center Drive West, Building 30, Santa Ana, in the Marriage License Division, room D-100.

-- Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

-- How: Regular marriage license is $35. Couples must apply together and must bring marriage health certificates, issued by physicians after blood tests.

-- A couple completes a license application at the office, which a clerk then types. The clerk also administers an oath, in which the couple swears that the facts they presented are true.

-- The marriage license is valid for 90 days.

-- A couple can marry the same day, at the same office, for $15 more. First come, first served. No reservations accepted.