Route 91 survivor marks anniversary of shooting by getting married
Five years after the worst day of her life, survivor Brittany Castrejon marked the anniversary of the Route 91 Harvest festival shooting by getting married.
Castrejon and Jorge Gonzalez-Calvillo married Saturday evening at Revere Golf Club in Henderson.
Family and friends sat in rows of white chairs on the grass facing an archway draped in white and adorned with arrangements of white flowers. At around 6 p.m., the crowd turned to face the grassy hills behind the gathering as the wedding march was played on a keyboard.
Castrejon emerged from atop the hill and walked down arm in arm with her father to meet Gonzalez-Calvillo.
Through tears, both read prepared vows to each other as the sun set. Both started by saying “My love.”
“Jorge, I vow to be a light on your darkest days, a laugh on your brightest days and your forever partner,” Castrejon said. “I vow to be your biggest cheerleader, supporting you in all that you do, and I vow to love you for the rest of your life and to honor you for the rest of mine. I love you.”
Gonzalez-Calvillo vowed to support and protect his soon-to-be wife and take her on adventures.
Pastor Kevin Scott officiated and provided summary of the couple’s love story.
The couple met in 2020 after Gonzalez-Calvillo’s aunt tried to set up Castrejon with him for years.
Castrejon and the aunt worked together at the Regional Justice Center. Gonzalez-Calvillo flew from Denver to meet Castrejon in Las Vegas, and they spoke on and off until September 2021 when the relationship became more serious.
“‘I never thought I would fall in love with a gal who loved country music, but here we are never happier,’” Scott recalled Gonzalez-Calvillo telling him.
The ceremony included the reciting of a reading called “The Key to Love” in English and Spanish.
A lasso used by Gonzalez-Calvillo’s parents at their wedding was placed around the couple as a “symbolic declaration of intention that they are voluntarily binding themselves together,” Scott said.
The lasso was placed around the couple in a figure-eight form to represent infinity.
Castrejon attended the festival with her cousin Danielle Pieper, then 14. They were in front of the stage when shots rang out during Jason Aldean’s set.
They crouched near the stage for 10 minutes with Castrejon laying on top of Pieper and only Castrejon’s purse covering them. After the shooting stopped they went to the Tropicana, where a California woman allowed them to sleep in her room.
On Saturday, Pieper, now 19, was part of the wedding party as one of Castrejon’s bridesmaids.
Castrejon and Gonzalez-Calvillo joined other Route 91 survivors who’ve been married on Oct. 1.
Todd Wienke and Oshia Collins-Waters got married on the first anniversary of the shooting in 2018. Wienke was shot three times while shielding Collins-Waters.
Kimberly and William King got married at Revere Golf Club three years ago on Oct. 1. William King proposed with a ring made out of a purple Route 91 festival wristband and a leather trinket.
Contact David Wilson at dwilson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @davidwilson_RJ on Twitter.