Nearly two dozen couples say 'I do' during total solar eclipse in Butler County
Apr. 8—Nearly two dozen couples were united Monday during a mass wedding ceremony in Butler County to mark the once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse.
There were 22 couples who said "I do" at Trenton Community Park, including Trenton residents Gerald Lester and Samantha Palmer. They were engaged but hadn't set a date or thought much about their wedding but were struck by the idea of marrying in their town on the day of the total solar eclipse.
"We just decided Friday that we were going to pull the trigger today," Palmer said. "I saw it on the news, and I went, 'oh, OK, I want to get married and there's an eclipse.' That was Friday," Palmer said.
They picked up a marriage license that day after they were able to breeze in without an appointment.
"And here we are, she said.
"We're not really good planners," Lester said.
The couple acts with spontaneity, which has always worked out for them.
"Why not this, too?" he said.
Couples who married also hailed from Hamilton, Fairfield, Springdale and Cincinnati.
Linda Foster and Karl Hughes who live in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Westwood have been together for 33 years.
We love each other ... the time was right and the eclipse, too, it just all seemed like it all combo-ed together," Hughes said.
They had been thinking about getting married for awhile, and it was about time, Foster said.
Joining them to watch their special nuptials was their daughter, granddaughter and his new sister-in-law, Hughes said.
Ashley Jones and Zach Collums of Hamilton had been talking about marriage and possibly having a ceremony in Texas with Collums' family but it wasn't easy to plan.
"We saw this and look it up and it's 20 minutes away, and we're like we kinda have to," Jones said.
That was less than a month ago, so Collums said they planned their wedding in the broadest sense; however, the couple didn't skimp on style.
Jones found a secondhand dress and her groom already owned dress attire that would work for their special day.
Corbett and Diane Wilder of Trenton already were married but wanted to renew their vows after 20 years of marriage.