Love was in the air Friday morning at Laman Public Library. Eight couples were lined up outside the upstairs rotunda to process in for their wedding.
Friends and families waited in the chairs set up in the space, which had been decorated with tulle, paper flower garlands, bouquets of flowers, books and candles.
In the corner, a cellist and guitarist filled the space with live love songs such as “Here Comes the Sun.”
Dawn Sagar and Leticia Reta, the day’s officiants, processed first. Next followed the happy couples, five of whom formed a semicircle around Sagar for the English-speaking ceremony.
Sagar, a community educator at the library, and other staff members first got the idea to have a wedding ceremony after Sagar became ordained to officiate her daughter’s wedding.
“I had such a good time that when I came back, I said, ‘Let’s do it,’” Sagar said.
Since they decided to plan the event, the team and local vendors banded together to make it a magical day for the couples involved.
Nothing Bundt Cakes donated cakes for the couples, Bang-Up Betty created customized keychains, North Hills Florist & Gifts donated floral arrangements, and artists at the library worked hard to make other decorations for the space where the ceremony was held.
Every couple left with a goodie bag of fun wedding presents put together by the staff.
“Just so many people have come together to make this happen; it’s quite humbling,” Sagar said. “It went from this joke to this thing where everybody is so excited to see this happen.”
At the ceremony, Sagar spoke to the couples about their love.
“Each story is unique and is filled with its own twists and turns, challenges and triumphs, that led you here to start this new chapter of your lives,” Sagar said. “Embrace every moment because together they form the beautiful narrative of your unique love story.”
Then, the couples, led by Sagar, repeated their vows to one another in unison. Promises of “I do” could be heard by the audience. Then, they exchanged rings and were pronounced married.
After that, three couples were led through a similar ceremony in Spanish.
One couple who got married was Shalae Hesselbein and Aisling Hearne. The two met on a dating app two years ago, and Shalae said their first date ended up being 10 hours long because they didn’t want to stop spending time together.
The couple got engaged in November and wanted to get married soon, so they had been thinking about what to do for their wedding when they saw the library’s wedding event.
“And we thought, ‘Hey, that sounds really fun,’” Hesselbein said.
She said it was beautiful, and she could see that the staff worked hard to make it a special day.
After the ceremony, the couples lined up to sign their marriage licenses while the cellist and guitarist played “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours).”
The day was capped off with a toast of sparkling cider.
“Here’s to libraries, love, laughter and happily ever after,” Sagar said.
