New Haven Independent

Dennis Pleasant had no idea why Linda Karako called him at his job as an HVAC tech Thursday morning and said, “Take an hour lunch.”

She picked him up, drove him to City Hall — and left as Linda Pleasant.

Even Linda hadn’t planned to get married Thursday, she said. She was already at her mortgage broker job when she decided Valentine’s Day would be the right time to take care of those nuptials they’d been talking about.

She called City Hall. “Can we do it today? Right now?” she asked.

Then she went out and bought a ring, then picked up Dennis.

Deputy Registrar of Voters Delores Knight rolled out the portable wedding trellis in the atrium of City Hall’s second floor and read them the script. They stood underneath and said, “I Do.”

Linda took out the ring and slipped it on Dennis’ finger.

It wasn’t hard. Proof that she had indeed bought the ring that morning, without cluing in Dennis — the ring was too big.

They laughed about it later. First, though, they followed Knight’s directive to seal their vows with a smooch. Click on the play arrow to watch.

Linda, 40, has been married once before. This is Dennis’s first wedding. Asked why she chose Valentine’s Day, Linda said, “So he’ll remember our anniversary.”

Point well taken.

“I forget a lot of things,” Dennis confessed.