House of eternal love: Couples say a Leap Day 'I do' at Meow Wolf

SANTA FE — It was a day of love in the multiverse.

Weeks ago, Meow Wolf made a call to couples for the chance to get married on Leap Day inside Santa Fe’s “House of Eternal Return.”

On Thursday, couples took them up on the offer.

As Meow Wolf opened at 11 a.m., Jonathan Guzman and Allison Mrotek were the first to get hitched.

Couples were allowed to pick a location within “House of Eternal Return” to say their nuptials. Guzman and Mrotek chose to stand inside the mastodon’s bones.

House of eternal love: Couples say a Leap Day 'I do' at Meow Wolf

The couple moved to Santa Fe six months ago. Both felt that Meow Wolf was symbolic of their 11-year relationship.

“We’re very much a nontraditional couple,” Mrotek said. “We’re excited that we got to experience this.”

Guzman said the couple will celebrate their Feb. 29 anniversary by traveling every four years to mark the anniversary.

A few hours later, Jadyne Rowden and Gregory Glenn took an unplanned leap into marriage.

“I actually just proposed to her last night,” Glenn said. “We were at Ojo Caliente and I asked her dad for her hand in marriage. He told me, ‘Are you sure she wants to?’ ”

“I was curling my hair last night and he asked me to step out of the bathroom,” Rowden continued. “That’s when he asked.”

Rowden was still basking in the moment of getting engaged. Within 24 hours, she was married.

On Thursday, the trip to Meow Wolf was going to be Glenn’s first visit there. Upon entering, the employees at Meow Wolf told them about an opportunity to get married.

“It’s just something we would do,” Rowden said, still smiling from the nuptials. “This feels like something we would do.”

The couple married in the aquarium room of the exhibit.

Devin Bilbo and Daxton Martinez arrived at Meow Wolf with their children, Sabrina and Naomi, in tow. The Albuquerque couple has been together for three years and decided a Feb. 29 marriage would be great.

“We’ve been together for a while and I love her,” Martinez said.

The couple also got married within the bones of the mastodon.

“It’s been an interesting day,” Bilbo said.

While marriage was on the mind of new couples coming in at Meow Wolf, Cathy and Rusty Martin from Cape Coral, Florida, decided to renew their vows. The couple will celebrate their 32nd anniversary in May.

The Martins were on vacation in Santa Fe. Throughout the week, they saw tourist attractions such as the galleries along Canyon Road and the museums in downtown Santa Fe.

A trip to Meow Wolf was on the itinerary before they headed out of town on Friday.

“When we got here, we learned that we could renew our vows,” Cathy Martin said. “At least I was wearing white.”

Shanny Schmidt was the ordained minister on hand at Meow Wolf, where she was pulling double duty on Thursday.

Schmidt is also Meow Wolf’s social media manager.

“Today is a fun date,” Schmidt said. “I mean, for your anniversary to fall technically every four years is hilarious.

“I was surprised just how loving and emotional it is. We’re a fun place. Love is definitely evident everywhere inside. I’d want to get married here.”

Schmidt said there was one couple who was celebrating their “fifth” wedding anniversary on Feb. 29. The couple was wed on Leap Day 20 years ago.

“They wanted to renew their vows,” she said. “They did it inside of the laser harp room. When they kissed, the lasers made a delightful sound. That was the funnest part for sure.”

This is the first year Meow Wolf has offered an event like this. The company usually offers wedding packages throughout the year.

The cost for the wedding on Leap Day was the price of admission.

“We didn’t know what to expect for today,” Schmidt said. “This is the first time we’ve done a mass wedding type thing. This is just spontaneous. I think it’s fun and I hope that we continue this.”