The Rev. Stuart Noell more than doubled the number of wedding ceremonies he’s performed in a single day when he officiated more than 23 wedding ceremonies at the Catawba County Justice Center on Thursday.

Noell, a pastor at Highland United Methodist Church in Hickory, was glad to be part of so many joyful memories on Valentine’s Day.

“It’s good to share with them as they make a serious commitment,” he said.

He put together an abbreviated service and talked with the bride and groom beforehand to make it as personalized as possible.

His first ceremony of the day was the wedding of Cheryl Hart and David Tolosa.

Hart adorned a white baseball cap with a tulle train on the back as she strolled into the Catawba County Justice Center Thursday morning with her fiancé.  She added some glitter and rose buds to the hat to give it that extra sparkle for her casual Valentine’s Day wedding.

The bride and groom listened as Noell walked them through the ceremony ahead of time and told them what they each needed to do.

Hart and Tolosa have been together for 10 years since they met on an ICQ Internet chat program.  They talked on the computer almost every day and eventually transitioned to the phone.  After six months, they decided to meet in Key West, Fla.

“When I left, I said ‘That’s the one’,” Hart said before the ceremony.  “We just decided this is the time.”

The wedding march began to play and when it stopped, Noell began reading his lines.  It was a short ceremony five-minute service.  Noell blessed the rings and handed them to the couple as they prepared to say their vows.

It was the simple wedding Hart wanted.

This is the second year the Register of Deeds has hosted a day of wedding ceremonies complete with a decorated arch as an altar, wedding cake, flowers from Lillian’s Florist and professional photographers from His World Photography.  The only requirement is a $50 marriage license and $20 for Stuart Noell.

Register of Deeds Deputy Tracy Pruitt said it is a way to make getting married at the courthouse a little more special and romantic.

Noell said Valentine’s Day has always been a popular day to get married.

“There’s the romance that’s attached to the day and you can bring that into the theme of the wedding,” he said.

In fact, his most memorable wedding he ever officiated was also a Valentine’s Day wedding, he said.  It was an 87 year-old man and an 83 year-old woman, both widowed.  Noell said they were supposed to get married on Valentine’s Day after the Sunday worship service, but an ice storm moved through the area on Saturday canceling the worship service.

“He called me very sad and said ‘I won’t get to marry my sweetheart,’” Noell said.  “He asked if I’d do the service anyway.”

Noell said the marriage service was held in the living room of the man’s house with pizza instead of cake.

“It was a real touching story,” Noell said.  “It was my favorite wedding of all.”

There was little time for Noell to relax before the next bride and groom came through the door.  He repeated the gestures with Connie Spicer and Jason Lafferty, who had driven all the way from Gastonia to be married.

He completed the same steps over and over again until the last wedding at 5:30 p.m.

Before each wedding, Noell said he’d tell himself, “just bend your knees.”