Meet Orange County's master of love

We've all heard that saying: Where California goes, so goes the nation. But when it comes to getting hitched, the state lags behind many others. Specifically, 5.7 marriages per 1,000 people, according to the latest 2022 figures from the CDC.

But fear not, because Hugh Nguyen is on the case — and has been for more than a decade as the clerk-recorder of Orange County.

" Basically I safeguard and protect everyone's records in Orange County," Nguyen said.

That includes processing passports, swearing in notaries, filing alternate names for businesses. His office also marks life's big moments.  

"We issue birth certificate, death certificate, marriage certificate," Nguyen said. "I'm the commissioner of marriage."

Indeed, it is in the domain of matrimony where Nguyen's many ideas find their — pardon the pun — perfect match.

Hugh Nguyen (foreground) with a couple at Hitched at Honda Center during COVID-19 pandemic.

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Courtesy of Orange County Clerk Recorder Department.

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Making it official

Nguyen was born in Vietnam to a teenage mom and an American soldier (whom he first met about a decade ago). After a harrowing escape from Saigon, Nguyen and his family landed in the U.S. He was 7.

Eventually, they moved to Orange County, which has been Nguyen's home since. The 57-year-old has been a county government employee since the early 1990s, rising up the ranks until he was tapped in 2013 to finish the term of an outgoing clerk-recorder. A year later, he was officially elected to the post.

" I'm honored and proud to be the first Vietnamese American clerk-recorder in the country being elected to that position," Nguyen said.

In conversation, Nguyen is garrulous, with a tendency to slip your name in the middle of a sentence for emphasis. The clerk-recorder also has a ready inventory of all the ideas that he's implemented.

New ways to say, 'I do'

One of his first big projects, Nguyen said, was to launch an O.C. wedding app so people can book an appointment, pick a location and apply for a marriage license on their phones. It was, he said, a first in the state.

 "Then I thought ... sometimes if we get married, our family lives in Texas, in San Diego, in Vietnam, in Japan, wherever," Nguyen said.

So he launched a free Zoom broadcast for virtual attendees.

" If you are getting married, Fiona, your family from anywhere close or far can watch your wedding privately,  live, when we perform it," he said.

Nguyen remembered a Filipino couple at their South County office who invited guests from the Philippines on the Zoom.

" We can see all the icons of family members dressed in red to support the bride, and the couple was so happy," he said.

About a month ago, his office launched vow renewals. One couple that participated has been married for half a century.

 "You can share it with your kids and grandkids, your love for each other by renewing your vows," Nguyen said.

The list of innovations go on and on, including Nguyen himself performing a ceremony for a couple who renewed their vows after 25 years of marriage — right in the middle of the annual Tet Parade last weekend celebrating Lunar New Year. The wedding part was a first.

Pandemic weddings

But nothing could beat what he pulled off during the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020.

 "My attorneys in the county kept saying, 'Hugh, it's people's constitutional right to get married,'" Nguyen said. "I kept reminding her, everybody is sick, and we're closed. The whole country is closed."

But the sentiment stuck with him, especially after seeing the long line of people waiting to get married the day before his office was shut down. As Nguyen was driving home, it dawned on him that what he needed were ticket booths — like at a movie theater.

A couple got married at Hitched at Honda Center during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Courtesy of Orange County Clerk Recorder Department.

)

"Because I thought safety for my staff, you know, there's that glass. And then the couples can stand outside, right?" he said.

He made some calls and landed a handful of booths — with interior heat and A/C to boot — from a friend at the O.C. Fair.

" So then I thought, ‘OK, where am I going to drop these babies?’ Right?" Nguyen recalled.

He was driving to his Anaheim office, when he spotted the Honda Center.

"Big parking lot,  Fiona, everything's closed. There's no hockey," he said.  "So I reached out."

Thus began Hitched at Honda Center — where couples drove to the parking lot, walked up to one of the booths and said “I do.”

Over nine months, the department issued nearly 17,000 marriage licenses and performed more than 8,200 marriage ceremonies, a 25% increase from the previous year.

Next frontier: mobile clerk-recorder

O.C. clerk-recorder Hugh Nguyen's new idea: a mobile clerk-recorder van.

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Jill Replogle

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LAist

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In March, Nguyen plans to debut his latest endeavor: a van to enable his office to meet his constituents. " So we can serve the public anywhere," he said.

At a recent county Board of Supervisors meeting, Supervisor Doug Chaffee, who represents Brea and Buena Park, lauded the "clerk-recorder on wheels" initiative.

"I have to recognize our county clerk because of the innovative stuff he's doing,” Chaffee said. “As a new mobile van where it will go all over the county, you can get a birth certificate, you can apply for passports, all sorts of things you can do with that."

There's one place Nguyen is already thinking of hitting: the bridal show at the county fairgrounds, which thousands of people attend.

 "When I go to a bridal show, my van is there. We could actually issue the marriage license live, right!" Nguyen said.

Before then, Nguyen and his office need to get through Valentine's Day. This year, that special day falls on a Friday, which he said tends to be the busiest.

So Nguyen is extending office hours until 6 p.m. He said some 300 couples have already made appointments, and more are expected.

"We're gonna break some records this year," he said. "I guarantee you."

How to get married in the O.C. this Valentine's Day

Love birds, it's never too late to book an appointment to get married or to renew your vows at one of Hugh Nguyen's county courthouses in Orange County. Hours will be extended until 6 p.m. Feb. 14 at the Anaheim, Laguna Hills and Old County Courthouse in Santa Ana for marriage services.

Walk-ins will be served on a first-come, first-served basis.

Before arriving, couples must complete a marriage license application online at https://ocweddings.ocrecorder.com

Here's a checklist:

• Online Application: Required for marriage licenses prior to arrival
• Identification: Both parties must present valid government-issued photo ID
• Witness: At least one witness is required for a public marriage license ceremony
• Payments: Accepted forms include cash, credit/debit card, check, cashier’s check, or money order (payable to the Orange County Clerk-Recorder)

Marriage Services and Fees:

• Public Marriage License: $61
• Confidential Marriage License: $66
• Civil Marriage Ceremony: $28
• Renewal of Vow Ceremony: $28