6 Rock County couples get opportunity to tie the knot during courthouse closure
ROCK COUNTY, Wis. – Six Rock County couples had the chance to get married away from the courthouse Wednesday afternoon. County Court Commissioner Stephen Meyer conducted the ceremonies from Beckman Mill, nearly 30 minutes from the county courthouse.
“I said to people that I only wanted them to have six people (in attendance) in addition to the couple,” Meyer said.
Originally, the weddings were scheduled to take place in Beloit, but a surge of COVID-19 cases there moved Wednesday’s ceremonies west.
For one couple, today’s wedding came after other plans had fallen through.
“We had a venue picked and a date picked out,” said Nathan Lewis of Janesville, who married his fiance Dorothy on Wednesday.
“That obviously got pushed back. Basically, everything we had planned had fallen through.”
Just a handful of people were in attendance for the couple’s wedding.
“It was a little bit sad,” said Dorothy Lewis. “First of all I was expecting my family from Kenya to be here. They had to cancel their tickets, so they had to start all over again.”
The couple says they hope to host a celebration with their family and friends when it is safe to do so. For now, they say they’re excited to move forward with their future, which they hope to include purchasing a home and starting a family.
“We just hope it’s something positive,” said Nathan Lewis. “That’s the one thing like, because of our plans I try and keep pushing through.”
Meyer says he’s hopeful the courthouse will eventually reopen. In the meantime, the county has ceased to issue marriage licenses for the time being.
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