BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — A Bakersfield church celebrated Valentine's Day by offering free wedding ceremonies to couples who couldn't afford traditional wedding costs, helping six couples tie the knot without financial stress.
Cindy Wilson Martinez and Juan Antonio Martinez exchanged vows in front of their loved ones at Kern Christian Center in Bakersfield. After being together for six months, they decided to spend the rest of their lives together.
"Fell into place, basically. We were driving by and seeing the signs said wedding, one man, one woman, and we're like, that's us," Martinez said.
Pastor Billy Rash with Kern Christian Center says they wanted to do something special for couples.
"I'm excited about it. It's good. And we're giving each one of them their ceremony. We're not doing all six at one time. We're giving each one their ceremony making it special," Rash said.
Rash says they understand planning a wedding can be stressful and expensive, which is why he didn't hesitate to marry couples for free.
"Financially right now, and the climate we're in, people are stretched and things like that, they want to get married, but they just can't afford it sometimes. So we thought, let's just give it to them. Service, this church, the facility, let's give it to them," Rash said.
The Martinez family says this act of kindness has helped them out so much.
"Have financial reasons. I deliver food with Uber Eats. It only you only get so much doing that, but it's something because we could afford the marriage license easy, but to officiate a wedding's kind of expensive," Wilson Martinez said.
They will forever be grateful.
"Thank you. Like, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you, because we didn't know how we were gonna get married. We just knew we were gonna do it somehow some way," Wilson Martinez said.
The pastor says that due to the success they had, they're planning on doing this again next year.
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