Twenty-two already was a special number before Joe and Rachel Doerflein got married.
Rachel was born on Sept. 22, Joe was born on Dec. 22, they started dating on Feb. 22 and their daughter, Nora, was due on April 22 but arrived a day early.
With Feb. 22, 2022 (2/22/22) falling on a Tuesday and being known as “Twosday,” the Seymour couple thought the time was right to get married on the 10th anniversary of the day they started dating.
“It was pretty set after we had noticed it being 10 years together and everything. It worked out. It’s just a good day for it,” Joe said.
“We just thought the twos aligned,” Rachel said. “The 10 years and the twos on a Tuesday, it just all worked out.”
On Tuesday morning before 11 a.m., they entered Seymour City Hall and were escorted to the C. Miles Conference Room, where they presented their marriage license from the county clerk’s office to Cristyn Milroy and then had their wedding officiated by Floyd Amburgey.
Nora was present, too, wearing the same blue jean jacket and floral dress as her mother.
“I’m just so excited,” Nora said with a big smile.
“Nora is excited for us all to be Doerfleins,” Rachel said.
Amburgey, a clerk/secretarial aide at city hall, wound up officiating seven weddings on Tuesday and Mayor Matt Nicholson officiated one for a total of eight on the unique day.
While Amburgey has worked for the city for 27 years, he didn’t become ordained and a licensed marriage officiant until Nicholson asked him to do so in January 2020. He completed the process online and was granted his license.
“He asked me to become ordained because Valentine’s Day was coming up and he thought we would be overwhelmed. Not a single person showed up that year,” Amburgey said, laughing.
That, however, has changed because on Tuesday, he surpassed 150 total weddings.
“The mayor originally said that I would do it when he was out of the building or had other stuff to do that day, so I thought I would just do maybe one or two every two or three months, and it started to increase,” Amburgey said. “I have done four in a day, so (Tuesday) will break the record.”
Amburgey said most of the weddings he has officiated have been on a Friday, but with 2/22/22 falling on a Tuesday, couples wanted to mark the memorable date by getting married.
“Cristyn just told me Thursday we had four. That’s the first I heard about it,” Amburgey said of people choosing to get married on Twosday. “Then she told me we have three more that just came in. I think that is very, very cool.”
Milroy served as a witness to each wedding Tuesday, which she has done since she started working for the city last year.
Amburgey’s second wedding Tuesday was for Mike and Bethany Miller of North Vernon.
Like the Doerfleins, they met 10 years ago. The difference, though, is the Doerfleins met while at lunch in high school, and the Millers met at work.
Mike and Bethany also decided 2/22/22 was the right time to get married.
“I told him if we were going to do it, we were going to do it on 2/22/22, and here we are,” Bethany said, smiling.
“She wants me to buy her a house. I thought we were going to have to go through this in order for me to buy her a house,” Mike said. “We have lived together for quite some time, so I don’t think it’s really going to change a whole lot in the picture of everything.”
James and Tammy Robison of Seymour also were married by Amburgey on Tuesday.
They, too, met at work 10 years ago.
“We met there, and we’ve been friends for the entire time,” Tammy said. “We actually started dating in 2019.”
She chose to get married on 2/22 because when she was born, it was at 2:22 a.m. Oct. 13.
“I’ve always just liked the number two, so it just worked out,” she said.
James said they had discussed when to get married before, but nothing had been set in stone. That is until the uniqueness of Tuesday.
“Also, we’re so indecisive. We were just like, ‘You know what? If we don’t do it now, it’s not going to happen,’” Tammy said, smiling. “I sporadically brought up this date specifically, and he has been pretty much like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to do it. We’ve only got 16 days. We’re going to do it.’”
While it will be easy for the couple to remember their wedding date, James said it’s a bonus for him because it falls seven days after his birthday.
After 2 p.m., Hannah Tannahill and Andrew Satkowiak of Seymour arrived at city hall to get married. Amburgey officiated all of the ceremony except for telling the groom to kiss the bride because they wanted to wait to do that at 2:22 p.m.
“Our first kiss together was on the 22nd of February (two years ago), so we just waited,” Hannah said.
The two met through their parents about 13 years ago. Tuesday was special because both of their parents, their three kids and even a dog were present.
“With the pandemic and expenses and everything, we want to do a big wedding in a year,” Hannah said.
Like the Robisons, the Satkowiaks said they will always remember their wedding date.
“Should be pretty easy,” Andrew said, smiling.
“Hopefully, we’ll never forget the anniversary,” Hannah said.
Another couple married by Amburgey on Tuesday was Brandon Bondowski and Peggy Collins of Uniontown.
They met through a mutual friend and had been together for almost a year before deciding to get married on Twosday.
“Two is my favorite number, and he just came home one day and he’s like, ‘Let’s get married on 2/22/22. That’s perfect,’” Peggy said, smiling.
“It’s different,” Bondowski said of why he proposed that date.
Peggy wore a white lace dress and held a bouquet of flowers, while Brandon wore a gray vest over a shirt and tie, both appropriate for their big day.
Plus, several family members were there, including Peggy’s son and daughter-in-law, who had gotten married at city hall in the past.
“That meant a lot because you didn’t want them to miss out on seeing it happen,” Peggy said of having family present for the special occasion.