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ST. PETERSBURG — Saturday will be a special day for three couples as they plan on getting married in a joint ceremony.
Jennifer Kloss, 31, and Ronnie Barton, 49, got engaged after four years of dating. Three years later, his oldest son, Roo Barton, 26, and Michelle Smith, 30, Jennifer's best friend, got engaged. Months later, Jennifer's sister, Shannon Kloss, 27, and Joel Palmer, 40, got engaged.
The group of tight-knit family and friends who live in St. Petersburg and Lutz decided to make it official — all on the same day — April 23.
It was beyond butterflies when Jennifer knew Ronnie was "the one." She said she literally felt lovesick. On Feb. 14, 2007, Ronnie found a clever way to ask Jennifer to be his bride. While out fishing, he asked her to take his catch off the line, and to her surprise it was a box with a beautiful ring inside.
She kept asking him about setting a date and his response was "Juvember" or "Noctober." She decided to inform her family and friends and started to plan a wedding, figuring eventually they would agree on a date.
Michelle and Roo met through a mutual friend and have been together for 4 1/2 years. Roo surprised Michelle with a proposal for her 30th birthday on May 8, 2010, although her actual birth date was two days later. "It was an amazing start to my 30s," said Michelle.
They figured it would be a while before they got married due to the expense of a wedding, so they had not set a date yet.
Though Shannon Kloss and Joel Palmer were together the longest of all three couples (seven years), Shannon said her guy took a little persuading to pop the question.
Every other weekend, the guys go out boating and fishing together while the women shop, cook, go to the beach and spend time with the kids. On Oct. 16, 2010, after a day of fishing, the guys came in and started to explain what a great idea they had. To the women's surprise, the men came up with the idea of all three couples getting married on the same day.
"I would never have imagined that the guys would come up with this idea, but I would have my sister and my best friend by my side anyway, and what a day to share," said Jennifer.
"I suppose it all started out as a joke," said Michelle, "but when you tell three women, who are really close, that they can get married with some of their best friends … well, it snowballed quickly."
"We are all busy people with very different home lives and yet we all have so much in common. The fact that we spend almost every weekend together, and do almost everything together, it just seemed right to do this together," said Shannon.
"Our kids are all around the same age and they love to all get together and hang out with each other. We are all family in a way, yes, but we really have grown to be best friends over the years."
The ceremony will be held on the beach behind the Bilmar Beach Resort on Treasure Island.
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