This is how couples around the world are marrying under COVID-19

Apr 27, 2020

Roxanne, 25, a French lawyer working in Belgium, and Nicolas, 28, a real estate agent, attend their wedding ceremony despite the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Brussels, Belgium April 11, 2020. Only the witnesses were allowed to the ceremony. REUTERS/Johanna Geron - RC2C2G97DKZL

Coronavirus has upended marriage plans. Image: REUTERS/Johanna Geron

Our Impact

What's the World Economic Forum doing to accelerate action on COVID-19?

The Big Picture

Explore and monitor how COVID-19 is affecting economies, industries and global issues

A hand holding a looking glass by a lake

Crowdsource Innovation

Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:

COVID-19

Listen to the article

The governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has made it legal for couples to hold online weddings as COVID-19 continues to spread around the world.
These pictures show how people have still managed to marry during the coronavirus pandemic.
From taking vows in parking lots to holding ceremonies by video conference, people are finding innovative ways to be together.

Shopping, meetings and social events have all moved online in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, and now a new law has made it legal for couples in the US state of New York to hold virtual weddings.

Stay-at-home orders have led to many wedding plans being put on hold around the world, but lockdown or not, a new order by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo allows clerks to conduct internet wedding ceremonies and for couples to obtain a marriage license remotely.

Under normal circumstances, marriages in the state are only legal if the couple both appear in person at one of five borough offices.

Discover

What is the World Economic Forum doing about the coronavirus outbreak?

Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic requires global cooperation among governments, international organizations and the business community, which is at the centre of the World Economic Forum’s mission as the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation.

Since its launch on 11 March, the Forum’s COVID Action Platform has brought together 1,667 stakeholders from 1,106 businesses and organizations to mitigate the risk and impact of the unprecedented global health emergency that is COVID-19.

The platform is created with the support of the World Health Organization and is open to all businesses and industry groups, as well as other stakeholders, aiming to integrate and inform joint action.

As an organization, the Forum has a track record of supporting efforts to contain epidemics. In 2017, at our Annual Meeting, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) was launched – bringing together experts from government, business, health, academia and civil society to accelerate the development of vaccines. CEPI is currently supporting the race to develop a vaccine against this strand of the coronavirus.

The situation for prospective newlyweds varies around the world.

Most wedding have been cancelled or postponed in the UK, with the country under lockdown restrictions limiting gatherings.

For some couples in India, the usual throng of wedding guests has been replaced by an audience of mobile phones and tablets streaming live wedding ceremonies to distant family and relatives.

Here are just a few pictures showing the creative ways people living under lockdown are building relationships, holding celebrations and tying the knot.

Drive-thru nuptials

A young couple poses for a picture after taking their wedding vows over a two-way radio in a parking lot after marriage services resumed for couples whose nuptials were postponed during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Anaheim, California, U.S., April 17, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Blake - RC2K6G96HIPW

This young couple in Anaheim, California, pose for a picture after taking their wedding vows over a two-way radio in a parking lot on 17 April. Marriage services have resumed for couples whose nuptials were postponed during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Image: REUTERS/Mike Blake

‘You may kiss the bride’

An Indonesian couple Novi Herdjanto and Mellawati Isnoer wear protective masks before their wedding amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at a local religion department office in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 11, 2020 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Sigid Kurniawan via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. INDONESIA OUT. - RC272G9E7DX2

Indonesian couple Novi Herdjanto and Mellawati Isnoer wear protective masks before their wedding at a local religion department office in Jakarta, Indonesia, on 11 April. Image: via REUTERS

‘I only have eyes for you’

Israeli couple Roni Ben-Ari and Yonatan Meushar, dance as they get married at Ein Hemed Forest Wedding Venue who are offering free, small scale weddings for young couples whose weddings cannot take place as planned due to restrictions imposed by the government to fight the coronavirus, in Ein Hemed, Israel March 18, 2020. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC2IMF939C4Q

Israeli couple Roni Ben-Ari and Yonatan Meushar dance as they get married at Ein Hemed Forest Wedding Venue on 18 March. Image: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Bridal balloons

An Iraqi couple is seen at their wedding during a curfew imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in the holy city of Kerbala, Iraq April 12, 2020. Picture taken April 12, 2020. REUTERS/Abdullah Dhiaa Al-deen - RC278G9YGHFW

An Iraqi couple is seen at their wedding during a curfew imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease, in the holy city of Karbala, Iraq on April 12. Image: REUTERS/Abdullah Dhiaa Al-deen

Virtual celebration

Indonesian couple wearing protective masks Mohamad Nurjaman and Ugi Lestari Widya Bahri greets their family members through a video conference after their wedding ceremony amid the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Tangerang, on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia, April 10, 2020. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan - RC2K1G9FBJRX

Indonesian couple Mohamad Nurjaman and Ugi Lestari Widya Bahri greet their family members by video conference after their wedding ceremony on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 10. Image: REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.