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February 13, 2022 - 4:27 PM
Couples from across B.C. flocked to get married for free at a Penticton bar this weekend.
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, The Barking Parrot hosted a Las Vegas-style wedding Saturday night, Feb. 12, giving any two people the opportunity to get married for free.
Marty O’Hara, bar manager who helped create the idea, said they were surprised to see 23 couples get married as well as one couple renew their vows last night.
They had hoped they would get from two to five people but by Wednesday morning last week, they had a waitlist of 35 couples once the news spread.
In a normal year, the bar hosts a back your bag party where residents will come with their bags packed for a possible weekend trip to Las Vegas. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, that wasn’t a realistic offer this year, O’Hara said.
READ MORE: Free weddings for all at a bar in Penticton this weekend
“We thought we’d bring Vegas here,” he said.
Residents came from across B.C., as far away as Abbotsford, Hedley and throughout the Okanagan to get married. About half of the couples had weddings that were cancelled due to the pandemic but others were long-time couples, together for 10 or 20 years, who decided to tie the knot, O'Hara said.
“It was such a good (turnout), it was a lot of fun, we’ll probably make it an annual thing,” he said. “I didn’t expect that many people to call.”
These holy matrimonies are considered legitimate as long as the couple bought a marriage license from the province for $100.
“Had a couple of no-shows but we had a couple people waiting on standby,” O’Hara said.
Video Credit: Jodi Sampson
February 12, 2022
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