The day before his wedding, Kevin Terrell needed a ring.
Looking for a size 14 ring, he went from store to store before he finally found one in Piercing Pagoda in The Oaks Mall.
Caught up in his search, he would only sleep three hours before his big day.
But about noon on Saturday, his now-husband, Jake Holton, was able to walk down the aisle with Terrell’s ring in his pocket. The two men, dressed in matching purple shirts, suspenders and black sneakers, walked together past smiling friends and family.
The wedding was made possible by the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Gainesville, which offered free marriages to same-sex couples as part of Pride Days 2015, a week of celebration sponsored by Pride Community Center of North Central Florida.
As a whole, Unitarian Universalism is a creedless denomination open to all people, said Rev. Maureen Killoran, development minister at the UUFG.
"Sexual orientation and gender identity is simply a part of who you are as a human being," Killoran said. "We believe that love comes to people in different ways."
Killoran stood at the front of the chapel as Terrell and Holton vowed to be loyal and stand up for one another.
The two men grabbed the rings from their pockets before sealing the marriage with a kiss.
Outside, the newlyweds stood by their car, smoking cigarettes as they sighed with relief.
"It’s done," Holton said. "We finally did it, and now we can party."
For the two men, both Santa Fe College graduates, their ceremony was the celebration of a love that was illegal in Florida until this past June.
"Times have changed," said Terrell, who will now use his husband’s last name. "Rules are meant to be broken."
His husband said it was about time.
"It doesn’t matter if you’re black, white, purple, yellow or green," Holton said. "Marry whoever the hell you want."
Half an hour later, two women walked through the building’s doors, awaiting a marriage of their own.
With rainbow-hued banners lining the walls around them, Tara Lee and Deblyn McCaughin wrapped their hands together to symbolize the bond of matrimony. The two then shared vows.
Lee, 67, recalled the past as she read from her yellow, legal-pad paper.
"I remember telling you (McCaughin) I wasn’t interested in a serious relationship," she said, laughing, as she recalled getting together on Mother’s Day in 2010.
Lee took her wife’s name, abandoning the name of the family who hasn’t spoken to her in 15 years. Communication stopped, she said, around the same time she transitioned from a man to a woman.
"I definitely don’t like borders; they get in the way of people getting to know each other," she said. "My family believes in borders."
Looking forward, the McCaughins plan on moving to Albuquerque, New Mexico, this week and beginning a new life together.
By the end of the day, neither of them could take a step without being greeted by bear hugs and well wishes.
Roz Doris, who met the couple when she first moved to Gainesville about five years ago, said she was happy her friends could finally make their love official.
"They were meant for each other," she said, smiling.
Follow Martin Vassolo on Twitter @martindvassolo
