NEWS
Love conquers superstition at Metro Court
Friday the 13th, a day known for bad luck, was filled with hope for couples who tied the knot at the courthouse
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Thirteen couples turned a famously unlucky date into a celebration of commitment at the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Courthouse, where a judge hosted back-to-back weddings ahead of Valentine’s Day.
Ronnah and Gordon Kirkland were one of the couples who decided to make Feb. 13, also known as Friday the 13th, a day to remember.
Surrounded by family and friends, the Kirklands held hands and swiped away tears as they read their vows.
"I can be vulnerable around her," said Gordon Kirkland. "She'll let me vent if I need to and she listens to all the funny stories I have about work. That's what I really love about her."
The Kirklands said they were not superstitious or concerned about bad luck and said they did not choose the date for any specific reason other than to get married as soon as possible.
"Everyone has negative connotations to Friday the 13th and I thought, 'Why don't I bring my own positive enforcement to that?'" Ronnah Kirkland said, a glittering ring on her finger. "People always say bad things are going to happen, but today was beautiful and everything was perfect."
Typically, the courthouse in Downtown Albuquerque offers wedding ceremonies on Valentine's Day. But with the day dedicated to celebrating love landing on a Saturday, Chief Judge Joshua J. Sánchez thought it would be fun to commemorate on Friday after several couples reached out to express disappointment at the lack of Valentine's Day weddings.
"We got hammered with requests," Sánchez said. "For the amount of time and coordination that goes into it ... it was too much to ask everybody to come in on a Saturday, so we chose to do 13 weddings on Friday the 13th."
Sánchez, who has married 500 couples over a five-year period, said he's seen his fair share of unique weddings, ranging from Cinco de Mayo weddings to nuptials on a leap year.
Of all his duties as a judge, Sánchez said wedding couples brings him the most joy. He said that regardless of what day a couple chooses to get married, they should be thankful to spend their life with the person they love.
In classic Friday the 13th fashion, the overhead lights in the courtroom occasionally flickered out, casting all the couples in a dark hue for a moment before the lights sprung back to life.
Each time it happened, couples and loved ones in the audience would laugh and make jokes about it being the unlucky moment of the day.
Similar to the Kirklands, Desire Byrum and Justin Chavez said that the wedding date was chosen purely out of convenience. It also landed right in between their birthdays.
"With the timing of everything, it was just perfect," Chavez said. "It just felt right."
To commemorate the day, the pair said they planned to get matching tattoos, another tradition that tattoo enthusiasts take part in because artists often have sales on Friday the 13th.
Though all the couples had different reasons for scheduling their wedding for Friday the 13th, they all shared the same sentiment: no superstitions would stand in the way of taking their relationship to the next level.
Nakayla McClelland covers crime and breaking news. Reach her at nmcclelland@abqjournal.com or at 505-823-3857.
