JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A walk-in wedding chapel right across the street from the Duval County Courthouse is trying to make it a little easier for couples who want to get married but can't afford a big ceremony.
Inside Maddy D's it may look like your average bakery, but in the corner, there's a small chapel.
Chaplain Scott Shubert, a retired Navy chaplain runs the Walk-in Wedding Chapel.
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On Friday morning, Action News Jax watched as he married Elizabeth Collier and Micheal Ramsey, another Navy veteran.
Collier and Ramsey met three years ago while they were working on a cruise ship in Alaska.
Ramsey said it was love at first sight.
"I thought she was just the most beautiful woman I had seen," Ramsey said.
Shubert said when same sex marriage was legalized in Florida in 2015, protests erupted in front of the Duval County Courthouse.
"And they said, 'We can't run a courthouse like this. We're just going to have to discontinue weddings,'" Shubert said.
Clay and Baker counties also stopped doing ceremonies inside their courthouses, which has forced couples to seek out other locations to get married.
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"Couples have been coming to Duval County Courthouse, they buy their marriage license and the clerks tell them drive to St. Johns County to get the ceremony done, then drive back to file your license, which is inconvenient," Shubert said.
That's why the chaplain said he is trying to make it easy and affordable for couples who want to say "I do," but don't want to pay thousands of dollars for a wedding ceremony.
"Michael and I would rather spend that money putting ... a down payment on a home than on (a) wedding," Collier said.
Shubert said any couple, no matter their background or sexual orientation, can get married at his walk-in chapel.
The chaplain said they've already had 30 weddings in 30 days and they're open for ceremonies Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Click here to visit the Walk-In Wedding Chapel's website for more information.
Cox Media Group
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