St. Nicholas resident Selecia Young-Jones is an open-minded woman, she is also motivated to offer an equal opportunity for couples who wish to marry. Whether you are gay or straight, the door to your wedding ceremony is now open in Downtown Jacksonville.
Having recently opened her business on April 1, she’s now operating the Rainbow Wedding Chapel and welcomes all walks of life through her doors inside Maddy D’s at 440 West Adams Street, directly across from the Duval County Courthouse.
When in January 2015, the Duval County Clerk of Courts’ office refused to marry anyone if they were going to have to officiate same-sex marriages back, the policy was to cancel courthouse wedding ceremonies for all. Following the passage of same-sex marriage in Florida, citizens lost the ability to marry in a quick, efficient, and official ceremony downtown at or near the Courthouse. It became obvious to Selecia that she wanted to help people get married and proudly declare – ‘Until death do us part’ – while officiating special moments in the lives of those served. Since those rulings years ago, COVID-19 has now entered the picture, making it even more difficult to register your marriage license. Due to backlogs and virtual court proceedings, the barriers to nuptials seemed to be growing, or at least being made more difficult. Selecia saw a chance to offer a solution.
Due to the increase in red tape and difficulty, she decided to open her own wedding chapel nearby the Duval County Courthouse and now Rainbow Wedding Chapel, as part of the Rainbow Mobile Notary and Nuptials Wedding Officiants Network, is now up and operating. Visit the Rainbow Notary and Nuptials Facebook page, rainbowweddingchapel.com, or call 904-RAINBOW for more information.
