Over 600 undocumented immigrant couples — some of the planning to enter the U.S. and others returning from the U.S. — were married in a mass ceremony at the border between Tijuana, Baja California and San Diego on Valentine’s Day.

As a live band blasted out sugary Mexican love songs in the border city of Tijuana, a short walk from the busy San Ysidro crossing into California, a judge simultaneously married a crowd of couples whose ages ranged from 16 to 65.

More than three-quarters were migrants returning from, or trying to get into, the United States.

“Isn’t she gorgeous? I love her!” said Inocencio Felix of his new wife Angelica Perez, 36, dressed in a flouncy white wedding gown. Perez was deported by U.S. immigration officials two weeks ago from the state of Oregon, where the couple met.

Reuters reports that some couples made the dangerous decision of returning to Mexico just to participate in the ceremony.

Via / Reuters

Image via Yahoo News-AP Photos