SAN MARCOS -- After performing more than 1,500 marriages at the county assessor's office over the past two years, Ron Barlow has seen it all, he said Friday.
Some people show up for the wedding day in shorts and flip-flops. On one occasion, a couple wore floral print Hawaiian shirts and asked him to wear one too. Another time, a Marine asked Barlow to turn his back while he kissed his bride.
"And I thought Marines weren't afraid of anything," the 69-year-old volunteer said.
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But the ceremony that really shook him up, he said, was the day a Marine had a another man stand in for him as proxy, marrying his wife for him, as the Marine watched the entire ceremony on the Internet from Iraq.
"That's the whole point, so he can see it done," Barlow said, adding that in California such a ceremony is perfectly legal.
As far as predicting whether marriages will last, Barlow said it's hard to know for sure, but he has the feeling that among those who stand the greatest chances of success are the people who use Internet matchmaking services where couples are tested for compatibility before they even get together.
"I haven't seen a bad one yet," Barlow said. "They seem to be so perfect for each other. There is no equivocation when I say, will you be faithful?"
Barlow said he got the job after he received a letter from San Diego County Health and Human Services' office of Aging and Independent Services. The letter was asking for a volunteer who enjoyed people to perform marriages, "and I said that's me.
"I think I was the only one who volunteered," Barlow said.
He said he loves it when people get emotional during the ceremony, which usually happens when he gets to the part of the ritual where he says, "for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish ... "
"I know I've done my job if they cry," Barlow said.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/05/29/news/top_stories/1_03_545_28_07.txt
