On Friday, the sounds of love will fill the air, and that will be literal in downtown Hopkinsville, as numerous couples are set to tie the knot at the Christian County Chapel of Love for Valentine’s Day.
And those couples are certainly not the first ones to be wedded at that chapel—in fact, since January of 2023, Magistrate Magaline Ferguson has performed 467 marriages there, as of Wednesday morning. And that’s not even counting the weddings that have happened there since the chapel was first established many years ago.
Ferguson says she has enjoyed every single one of them, as each brings their own joy to the occasion—and she loves love in all its forms.
Ferguson says she loves every part of the ceremony, from the legalities to the celebration—but her absolute favorite part is ringing the bell to announce the world that this couple has come together in love.
Many citizens downtown have probably heard Ferguson ring the bell, and then heard the big bell standing outside of the chapel be rung by the couple themselves. Many of those couples are Fort Campbell soldiers, and they mark their locations with a pin on a map of the world inside of the chapel—and Ferguson says folks getting married there really come from all over.
The Chapel of Love has undergone some renovations recently, including new flooring, fresh paint, and a fully functioning bathroom. Ferguson says she wanted this space to be bright, welcoming and happy.
Ferguson stays busy but she says she’s having a ball. And this Valentine’s Day is set up to be her busiest day for weddings so far since she began officiating, but she still intends to make sure each one is special.
It costs $100 to get married at the Chapel of Love, which means that a fair chunk of change has been banked there, and Ferguson returns all of that money right back to county government and into the general budget.
If there’s one thing that cannot be doubted it’s that Ferguson and the Chapel of Love are making one thing clear—just because it’s a ‘courthouse wedding’ doesn’t mean that the occasion can’t be one full of joy, fun, cherished memories, and especially love.Â
