Meet Cook County’s first married couple of the year

When Alfonso Arroyo sat down at a bus stop in March 2018, he had no idea he was about to meet his future wife.

But the bus to Navy Pier was late. And Angelica Rodriguez looked so beautiful in her zebra-print dress and blue cardigan.

“You know how buses drag,” Arroyo said. “We sat with each other in the bus stop. ... We got drinks and then we hit it off from there.”

Tuesday morning, Arroyo, 28, and Rodriguez, 30, became the first married couple of 2024 in Cook County.

Rodriguez applied for the coveted first ceremony at the county clerk’s office after learning about it on Facebook. More than 200 Cook County couples submitted their names to the clerk’s office. A winner was selected on Dec. 27.

Arroyo and Rodriguez got engaged in Orlando, Florida, last August. After winning the drawing, they had less than a week to prepare for their marriage.

The couple shopped for a wedding dress and suit at Macy’s. Excited family members told them that winning the license lottery was a good sign.

“It was out of nowhere,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve never won anything. ... It took me a while to process it. It’s a good opportunity.”

Before the couple said “I do,” Rodriguez tucked a pink rose into the lapel of Arroyo’s shirt. The year’s first Chicago newlyweds sealed their union with a faux Champagne toast, feeding each other sparkling grape juice through linked arms.

“He’s a really great person,” Rodriguez said of her husband. “I have lots of memories with him. I’m so happy that we’re going to start our life together.”

Former Cook County Circuit Judge Travis Richardson was on hand to marry the lovebirds. All official records of marriages, civil unions and domestic partnerships in Cook County are kept by the county clerk’s office.

As Richardson signed their marriage license, Rodriguez’s soft smile grew deeper.

“May your lives be long and happy, and with all the best wishes,” Richardson told the newlyweds.

Both Arroyo and Rodriguez grew up in Pilsen, and they will continue to live there as a married couple. Arroyo works as a technician at Walmart, and Rodriguez is a line cook at Au Cheval.

The couple share a 2-month-old son. Rodriguez also has an 11-year-old daughter.

“If (Alfonso) needs a hug, if he needs to cry on my shoulder, I’m going to be here,” Rodriguez said. “He’s a part of our lives, and I promise I’m always going to be there for him.”

Arroyo’s father, stepmother and three cousins attended the ceremony. Arroyo’s younger brother, Mateo, clad in suit pants and a warm hat with sewn-on ears, watched from his mother’s arms.

The newlyweds are still working on plans to celebrate their nuptials. There will be a party eventually, and maybe a honeymoon, they said. Some Illinois businesses, including Eli’s Cheesecake, Whittingham Meats and the Laugh Factory, furnished wedding presents and gift certificates.

Arroyo and Rodriguez can’t agree on who first asked the other for their phone number. But they’re aligned on something far more important — the promise to care for each other forever.

“She knows that I will cherish her and love her forever,” Arroyo said. “There’s no one else I would rather be with than her. ... She gave me a baby boy, and I’m really happy to continue this process of marriage and be loyal to her, be faithful, give her everything she asks for.”