Homeless Couple Tie the Knot at Shelter Wedding : Ceremony: Their vows at National Guard Armory add new meaning to the words ‘For richer, for poorer . . .’

The bride wore a lacy beige dress. The groom was in a freshly pressed red shirt. And the guests were sprawled on cots nearby.

A few people nodded off during the ceremony, but Lorraine Cronjager and Ron Barklow didn’t seem to notice. They were too busy looking at each other Saturday night as they became the first couple to get married at the National Guard Armory.

Cronjager and Barklow, who are both homeless, nervously exchanged wedding vows, promising to care for each other “in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer.”

It was the culmination of a whirlwind three-month courtship in the shelters and on the streets of Santa Ana, where Cronjager, a former waitress in her mid-40s, and Barklow, 40, a former warehouse worker, both searched for friendship and respect. They found it in each other.

“I know it will work,” Cronjager said as she twirled her bouquet of pink carnations just before embarking on her sojourn up the aisle between the gymnasium’s cots. “We’re a lot alike and we’ve both been through a lot.”

Cronjager, who is from Newport Beach, has been married twice before, each time for 12 years.

Barklow, whose red shirt and black slacks were donated for the wedding, said he doesn’t quite know what to expect because he’s never been married.

“I don’t plan on getting married again. She’s the right woman. That’s the way I feel,” Barklow said.

The wedding brought an evening of excitement to the armory, where the county provides food, showers and beds to about 100 homeless people on cold winter nights.

As banda music and the song “Tomorrow” from the musical “Annie” blared from a stereo, Orange County Clerk Gary L. Granville officiated--free of charge.

“I knew what the conditions were, and so it would be fiendish for me not to,” Granville said. He also waived the fee of $62.50 couples normally pay for a marriage license.

Groomsman Valdivio Harvey, who has been homeless about six months, said he wished the couple great happiness. “Having someone is important, because if you don’t have the necessities the other people have--a companion--you’re very, very sad,” Harvey said.

The ceremony, replete with two wedding cakes, sparkling cider, and the throwing of the garter and bouquet, brought some uncommon joy to the people who call the armory home during the winter, said Maria Mendoza, the county director of homeless issues.

“There are not a lot of things for these people to look forward to. Times are pretty tough,” Mendoza said. “But the little community around the shelter has been cheered up by all this. Someone has found a bit of happiness.”