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I do and an Americano, please: Victoria couple makes their marriage legal at Starbucks

After bigger wedding on Mexican beach, couple marry again with barista as witness

They said "I do" with an Americano for the groom and a white chocolate mocha for the bride.

Mike, 34, and Angela Erickson, 23, already had the big celebration of their commitment surrounded by friends and family on a Mexican beach on Feb. 11.

They just needed to make their marriage legal in Canada, so they called marriage commissioner Terry Robinson to meet them Monday night at Starbucks in Cook Street Village.

There was no wedding cake, bridesmaids or champagne -- it was all supposed to be quiet and casual. And if it wasn't for the vows being said in a busy coffee shop, with Angela's uncle madly snapping pictures, it probably would have been.

Angela is shy, so she prefers to keep things low key, and normally, she said, the Cook Street Starbucks is quiet on Monday evenings.

They chose Starbucks "because it's a nice, easy place where you can go and sit down and talk," said Mike. "We thought we'd just sign a paper and that would be it."

The couple even joked about going to Tim Hortons and using doughnuts as wedding bands. They want to remember the Mexican ceremony as their official wedding and hoped to make the legal ceremony "as small as possible," said Mike.

"It was a bit of a sticking point with some in my family from Nanaimo who wanted to come down," he said.

The coffee shop was busy that night, but they managed to find a table to say the required vows, said Mike. "That's when it got a bit longer and louder than what we expected and that drew attention. People could easily hear what was going on."

Angela's uncle circled the table snapping pictures.

"The marriage commissioner was talking and I looked around and all these people were looking at us," said Angela. "I was like, Oh my God, this is embarrassing."

A barista came forward to act as a witness.

At one point, the ceremony paused "because I was supposed to say something but I was busy drinking my Americano," Mike said with a laugh.

Just so there were no misunderstandings, Mike explained to the barista and others that the couple had already had a big splashy wedding. This event was just supposed to be a legal technicality.

"When Terry said, 'I pronounce you man and wife,' the couple behind us were laughing and clapped. They said congratulations."

It's not the first time Robinson has officiated a marriage in a Starbucks outlet.

"I had one couple cruising on Daddy's boat and it was awkward to co-ordinate the boat getting into the dock, so they ended up in the Starbucks in Sidney," said Robinson.

The job is enjoyable for all the variety, he said.

"I never cease to be surprised. I do ask what to wear in advance so I'm vaguely appropriate."

smcculloch@tc.canwest.com