A wedding photoshoot should be magical, as you capture yourselves looking your best, feeling your best, and deeply in love on your most special day. An unexpected dip in the ocean, however, may turn things upside down a bit.

A newly-wed couple took to Laguna’s Treasure Island Beach in California for their wedding photoshoot. Things were going well, until they were unexpectedly hit by a wave and pulled out into the water.

Luckily, an onlooker witnessed the entire incident from a lookout close to a hotel by the beach, and alerted authorities, who rushed out to help the couple. Several lifeguards made their way into the water, and rescued the bride and groom.

According to abc7, both the bride and groom had no serious injuries.

In a video captured by an onlooker, the couple can be seen going about their business until a wave hits them. Thereafter, the video cuts to the couple being rescued from the ocean.

See it happen here:

Image: Screenshot from video

Weddings have largely been banned across the world in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19. However, some countries have loosened restrictions and some citizens have not followed restrictions regarding weddings. In India, this has proven to be a mistake.

A wedding which took place in the Patna District of Bihar, a state in India, effectively started a COVID-19 chain, as 113 people tested positive and the groom passed away. It has been reported that this was the largest chain of infection in the state thus far.

The wedding took place on June 15. At the time, the 30-year-old groom had a high fever. Two days later, on June 17, he passed away and was cremated without receiving a COVID-19 test.

Subsequently, more than 360 people from surrounding towns were tested as part of contact-tracing efforts, and testers were still trying to get a hold of additional possible carriers of the virus, according to Health Department officials in the area. The bride, however, had not tested positive.

Some of the groom’s relatives were infected at the wedding, and fifteen of these guests are believed to have spread the virus to others who were not in attendance. According to the Indian Express, most of those who tested positive were asymptomatic and were admitted to isolation centres.

The entire region where the wedding took place (Paliganj sub-division of Patna) was then declared a containment zone and sealed. A special camp was also set up at the village from June 24 – 26 so that people could easily be tested. At the camp, 86 more people tested positive, according to Hindustan Times.

According to a relative of the groom, the wedding was not cancelled for fear of monetary loss, despite the fact that the grom knew he was not well. “Even though he was feeling unwell by June 14 and wanted the wedding deferred, family heads from both sides advised against it, citing huge financial losses if the arrangements had to be cancelled,” said the relative.

Apparently, nobody had considered that the man was a COVID-19 patient since rural areas had been mostly safe from the virus .” As rural areas are almost Covid-free, we were relaxed,” said the same relative.

NDTV reported that the restrictions in the state say that no more than 50 people are allowed to be in attendance of a wedding. At this particular wedding, there were approximately 350 guests. Thus, the district magistrate ordered an investigation into those attending the wedding in violation of COVID-19 restrictions.

Image: Unsplash

The COVID-19 pandemic may have changed the world, but it won’t stop love. A Cape Town couple proved just that when they tied the knot this past weekend amid the nationwide lockdown, by having a ‘drive-by wedding’.

Tanweer and Aqeelah Regal from Surrey Estate met about 6-7 years ago through relatives. Tanweer wanted a relationship but Aqeelah was focused on her sports and academics, so they remained friends until 2016.

The couple then dated for four years and became engaged in November 2019. Originally, they had planned to marry on June 21 and book a hall that could host their guest list of 750 people. Aqeelah tells Wedding ETC that the lockdown caused her quite a bit of stress.

“I had about 10 girls to be bridesmaids and flower girls etc, we had family coming down from Dubai to be a part of our day. Once we heard lockdown was happening, I panicked because things were halfway sorted for the 21st already.”

The couple are Muslim, and their religion states that weddings may be brought forward but cannot be postponed. As such, they kept their original date but massively scaled back. The 10 flower girls were reduced to one, there were no bridesmaids, and they cancelled the hall.

They had originally planned to just have their parents and siblings in attendance, but friends and family were not happy that they would only witness the wedding through pictures.

“Family and friends started messaging us saying they wouldn’t settle for pictures, that’s where the drive-by wedding idea came in. They wanted to see us, so my husband suggested okay let’d do the drive-by and when they pass by we will give them a punnet of food, as a thank you.”

This is exactly what they did. Hundreds of cars slowly drove by their home on June 21, as their family and friends hooted and cheered in celebration of the couple’s big day. The couple took many measures to ensure a safe day, such as screening and sanitising their guests.

Aqeelah tells Wedding ETC that her favourite part of their wedding day was when they had the nikkah. “It was hearing my husband recite his prayer of becoming my husband and then seeing him for the first time after a week. It’s like we fell in love all over again,” she said.