Marlene Johnson places a ring on Donovan Johnson's finger while Hamden Mayor Lauren Garrett officiates. Photos Kapp Singer.
Marlene and Donovan Johnson faced each other, holding hands. At the direction of Hamden Mayor Lauren Garrett, they carefully placed rings on each other's fingers. Then, to a round of applause, they shared a kiss.
“It’s a special day, man,” Donovan said.
“Happy Valentines!” Marlene added.
Donovan and Marlene Johnson.
The Hamden Town Clerk’s Office hosted “Love is in the Air,” an annual Valentine’s Day event offering free and festive marriage ceremonies to Hamden residents. This year, seven couples exchanged vows in the red-carpeted, rose-adorned rotunda of Hamden’s Memorial Town Hall.
“It’s just really nice to see love happen,” said Dominique Baez, the president of Hamden’s Legislative Council, who officiated three of the day’s marriage ceremonies.
“Some people really want to spend their life savings on a wedding, and some people can’t,” Baez said. “I’m just really in love with the idea that you can still have a really successful, decades-long partnership whether you spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, tens of thousands of dollars, or if you come down and have a free ceremony with the clerk.”
“To be a little part of a love story—it just makes me tingly inside,” Baez said.
Top: Bryan Maldonado and Keghan Tiernan.
Bottom: Lizzet Tuxpan looks at Mohammad Atohmoshmi while Baez, the officiant, and Tuxpan's father watch.
After the ceremonies concluded, the newlywed couples and their families gathered in the legislative chamber to enjoy a meal.
“It’s really about highlighting and lifting up Hamden residents,” Town Clerk Karimah Mickens said. This was the second year that Mickens has organized the event though it has been an annual event for over two decades, pausing only during the Covid-19 pandemic and resuming last year.
Eder Lindo and Analy Lujan embrace as Baez watches.
“They normally would come to my office and get a marriage license and a certificate anyways, and this is something we’re offering at no cost,” Mickens said. “It’s really about ways we can engage with our community, and show up for them the way people show up for us on a daily basis.”
During the meal, the a capella group Silk‘n Sounds serenaded couples with love songs.
Silk'n Sounds.
“It’s really a lovely event that we have in Hamden,” said Hamden Mayor Lauren Garrett, who officiated several of the day’s weddings. “Karimah does a wonderful job of making this really special for the couples who are getting married. It’s a really nice ceremony to be a part of.”