Dianuaku Bengui, left, and Ezequias Zacarías, who were both born in Angola, are married by Katarina Reynolds at Portland City Hall on Aug. 30. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

Flower petals were strewn across the linoleum floor of Portland City Hall. A couple bounded toward the building’s curling marble staircase, their friends close behind, snapping photos.

They were the last of three weddings at City Hall that August afternoon, part of a growing trend of couples skipping expensive ceremonies and opting for a simpler alternative.

During their brief ceremony, Ezequias Zacarías, 30 and Dianuaku Bengui, 29, leaned into one another while a friend spoke to the officiant behind the desk, translating for them from Portuguese to English. Three girls in dresses clustered around Bengui, fixing her hair and hugging her. One of them held up a phone, FaceTiming someone.

“I feel so happy,” Bengui said in Portuguese. “We decided to get married because I love him a lot.”

Dianuaku Bengui, 29, and Ezequias Zacarías, 30, exchange rings during their wedding at Portland City Hall. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

Bengui held a bouquet of carnations and wore a sequined dress with a bow draped down the back. She cradled her pregnant belly as her friend explained how the wedding would work. The couple would exchange rings, say their vows, then an officiant would pronounce them husband and wife.

Bengui and Zacarías met at university in Angola, where they were born. He moved to Portland about a year ago and she followed four months later. Bengui, who is due in November, said she is excited to start her family in Maine.

Once their marriage license had been filled out, they stood hand in hand in front of the last counter in the city clerk’s office. They exchanged rings, friends gathered tightly around them, snapping photos.

“I now present you, married,” said the officiant.

“OK!” one of their friends hollered.

They signed papers and the group headed off down the hallway, giddy.

Dianuaku Bengui and Ezequias Zacarías pose for photographs with friends and family members after their wedding at Portland City Hall on Aug. 30. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

The city offers two types of weddings. The first is a counter wedding, like Bengui’s and Zacarías’. These take just a few minutes and cost $125.

The second is in the State of Maine room, where a couple can invite more friends and family to gather in the big, ornate space down the hall from the clerk’s office. The ceremony also only takes a few minutes, but the couple has the room for an hour, costing them $300.

Over the past several years, the number of weddings at City Hall has jumped dramatically – nearly 500% between 2020 and 2023.

The city paused State of Maine room weddings from 2020 through 2022 because of the pandemic, but in that time, counter weddings rose from 46 to 176, a 283% increase. The city did not track the data in the same way before 2020, so it’s impossible to compare to pre-pandemic levels, said City Clerk Ashley Rand.

But the biggest jump happened last year when the world really started to return to normal. There were a staggering 271 counter weddings and 24 in the State of Maine room. So far this year there have been 285 weddings at the counter and 23 in the larger room, already putting the city on pace to set a record.

Anna Paschal, owner of the wedding planning service Wed in Maine, said that since the cost of a traditional wedding shot up since the pandemic,  more couples, especially those who are midcareer, may prioritize spending their money on other things – even if they could afford something more lavish.

“Weddings cost so much more than they once did,” Paschal, who’s been planning weddings for about a decade, said on a phone call Tuesday afternoon. “Food and beverage cost more, labor costs more. Everything is up.”

Nationally, the average cost of a wedding broke $30,000 in 2023, the highest in decades, according to a cost analysis by the Wedding Report.

“Everyone that wants a wedding should be able to have a wedding. And I just think that they look different for different people,” she said.

Zach Theriault and Angela Wang, both 27, of Woburn, Massachusetts, wait for family and friends to arrive before their wedding ceremony in the State of Maine room on Aug. 30. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

A CITY HALL WEDDING 

On the last Friday in August, Zach Theriault and Angela Wang, both 27, strode into the clerk’s office hand in hand just after 1 p.m. They grew up in Maine – she in Presque Isle and he in Cumberland — and met at the University of Maine Orono. They live just outside Boston now but decided to come back to their home state to tie the knot.

“We didn’t want to do something super traditional,” Wang said.

They plan to go to Italy for a small destination wedding later this month with friends, but their parents can’t make the trip so they thought a Portland City Hall wedding would be a good way to include them. They also didn’t want to worry about the paperwork when celebrating in Italy.

“I cannot be trusted with paperwork,” Wang laughed.

The way she sees it, the couple would have had to go to a city hall for the marriage license anyway, so they might as well make it official.

“One of my friends also did a city hall marriage before her wedding, she said it helps prevent cold feet,” Wang said, smiling at Theriault. He put his arm around her.

“Also, Portland City Hall is beautiful,” he said. “I mean, this feels like the real thing. How I expected to feel, I think.”

Zach Theriault and Angela Wang pose for photographs after their wedding ceremony. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

They headed into the State of Maine room as their families arrived. A row of 10 plastic folding chairs were arranged neatly in front of them. Their parents and siblings came in and sat down. An officiant rushed in from the clerk’s office. Theriault and Wang arranged themselves at the front of the room.

“Wait,” said Wang, “I think the girl is usually on this side.”

The couple switched spots in front of the marble fireplace.

There was no music playing, no aisle to walk down. The bride held a bouquet and the slanted sunlight refracted off the tulle skirt of her dress. The officiant clutched a paper and launched in to the simple ceremony. Wang’s sister snapped photos.

They exchanged “I do’s” and a few minutes after their families had arrived, the officiant said: “I now pronounce you man and wife.”

Someone cheered, Theriault pulled his new wife close and kissed her in the dappled light.

Zach Theriault and Angela Wang, were married before a small group of family and friends in the State of Maine room in Portland City Hall on Aug. 30. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

‘WE GET TO BE A PART OF THEIR DAY’

Rand, the city clerk, said that three weddings on a Friday is normal these days. She doesn’t know for sure why the number has jumped so dramatically since 2020, but she has some theories. One is that most nearby municipalities – save for South Portland – stopped offering counter weddings after the pandemic.

Technically, weddings are by appointment only, but Rand said her office tries to accommodate walk-ins when it can. Everyone who works in the office is a licensed notary and marriage officiant.

“The weddings are fun,” she said. “It’s nice to see, people are excited and celebrating. We get to be a part of their day.”

On the way out of City Hall, Zacarías pointed out the artwork and the marble staircase. He said he was thrilled to be married in such a beautiful building.

Dianuaku Bengui and Ezequias Zacarías pose for photographs with friends and family members after marrying at Portland City Hall. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

“Today is such a special day for both of us,” he said in Spanish, unable to keep his eyes of his new wife. “It’s finally going to be official, it’s a harmonious, beautiful day. Everything is good.”

He smiled as he spoke, barely containing his excitement.

Outside of City Hall, the group stood on the steps, embracing and laughing. They posed and kissed in the sun and held bouquets in the air in front of the building’s archway.

“I’m so grateful that we have this day,” Zacarías said.

Staff Writer Daniel Kool contributed to this report.