Love was in the air in Chicago’s Loop Monday as one unsuspecting couple became Cook County’s first marriage of 2016.
Dimitar Stamatov and Kinzy Frizzle, both 26, arrived at 69 West Washington Blvd. during the morning hours to grab a marriage license before work.
“We knew we wanted to do it this year, so we thought, why not on the first day,”Stamatov said. “We didn’t really expect all of this attention, so that was a bit of a shock.”
Stamatov, an electrical engineer, and Frizzle, an optometrist, said they were excited to be married on the first of the year, but did not plan on being the first couple to do it.
“We expected like a long line of people in front of us,” Frizzle said.
Instead, they found cameras waiting to capture the moment they said “I do.”
Judge Robert Balanoff Sr. made the couple’s marriage official, waiving the 24-hour waiting period so the couple could be married immediately.
The pair was given several prizes from local businesses, including a complimentary weekend for two at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel in Chicago, four VIP passes to the iO Theatre, a canvas print of the Chicago Skyline from Bryan Doctor Fine Art Photography, and a bouquet and boutonniere from LaSalle Flowers.
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County Clerk David Orr also paid for the couple’s marriage license fee.
The two said they plan to have a ceremony with family and friends in Canada in June and will spend their honeymoon traveling to Bulgaria to spend time with Stamatov’s family.
