Itemlive

North Shore news powered by The Daily Item

Keyla Lassalle and Darwin De La Cruz Estevez share a first kiss as a married couple after their wedding ceremony at Lynn Public Library on Valentine's Day. (Spenser Hasak)

Wedding bells ring at Lynn Library

Deyscha Smith

by

LYNN — Standing inside the reading room of the Lynn Public Library, Saugus native Megan Owens-Finch and Lynn’s Edward Owens-Finch held hands and looked deeply into each other’s eyes as they exchanged vows on Valentine’s Day Saturday in a wedding ceremony held inside the library.

The couple, who have been together for 15 years and met when they were both working at Target, were one of the many who decided that they wanted to spend their special day getting married at the Lynn Public Library. The reading room was decorated for the occasion with a flower arch, wedding banner, and even pink, red, and white cupcakes that spelled “LOVE” in frosting, which the library provided so that the newlyweds could celebrate and cut their cake together.

It was free for couples and their family and friends to gather in the space in the library, and they only had to pay a fee so Justice of The Peace Mary Gokas could officiate the ceremony.

“Love doesn’t change whether you do it on a big scale, or you do it like this,” Edward Owens-Finch said.

Librarian Nicole Coates Calnan said the idea to host wedding ceremonies for the very first time at the Lynn Public Library came about after her boss, Head of Adult Circulation Lindsey Robert, saw the event on Facebook. They then reached out to the clerk’s office at City Hall to see if they would be interested in collaborating. Both Assistant Lynn City Clerk Emily Mercado and Gokas wed the couples.

All of the librarians came together to put up decorations — and both the flower arch and banner were from Coats Calnan’s own wedding.

“We just wanted to offer a really nice space for them to exchange vows, and have a great, affordable option, too, for getting married,” she said. “On top of that, to be able to let them utilize how beautiful the building is in the space and the room itself.”

She said they chose to have the ceremonies in the reading room, specifically, so that couples could get married right underneath the 34-foot mural by F. Luis Mora, titled, “The Awakening of Ignorance,” which Robert once told The Daily Item represents “the library as a place of enlightenment.” The historic building, which turned 125 last year, also features the original tables, chairs, and shelves.

“I used to always come through Lynn library,” said Keyla Lassalle, who married her now-husband Darwin De La Cruz Estevez on Saturday.

After applying for their Marriage License, Lassalle said they didn’t have anything planned and were then told about weddings happening at the Lynn Public Library.

“It’s actually a pretty historic place in Lynn… I liked the way they set it up and had everything,” she said.

Lassalle also said she is looking forward to future venues and events held at the library, which the library could very well consider in the future.

“We’ve never done anything like this before, but everybody has been so excited,” Coates Calnan said. “I feel like we have such a good energy in here today. We’d love to explore doing it again at some point. No promises. We just kind of have to see where things go, but I think that all of us would be so open to discussing it maybe being annual.”

 

Related posts:

Lynn Library Board of Directors plans ahead