Many couples are facing the disappointment of having to cancel or postpone their weddings due to the coronavirus pandemic. While some are planning to simply wait until the health crisis blows over, others are finding creative ways around the problem.

With the forced cancellation of their wedding, Sharmin Asha and Nazmul Ahmed had to get past the disappointment. They decided they would start playing the popular Nintendo game, Animal Crossing: New Horizons. While they played, Ahmed had an idea.

He put together a surprise in-game wedding for his wife-to-be. “Nazmul invited me over to collect resources [on his island] since he had been playing longer than me. As soon as I got there, he was at the airport and there were arrows on the ground. He told me there was some special in-game event, so we followed them,” said Asha to The Washington Post.

As they followed the arrows, Asha collected virtual flowers that Ahmed left for her. At the end of the path she found a beach, where her friends waited with their own Animal Crossing characters.

Ahmed told The Washington Post that the entire thing took him four to five hours to set up. He said that their friends were happy to get on board with his plan, since they already played the game.

Of course, this is not a replacement for the New Jersey couple’s wedding but it has served as a great way to celebrate what would have been their wedding date.

Ahmed and Asha are not the only ones to have celebrated their nuptials this way. A host of other couples have made their way to Animal Crossing too as it serves as a proxy for real-world social interaction.

Image: Twitter / GoNintendoTweet

The 21-day lockdown in South Africa to curb the spread of coronavirus has effectively brought social gatherings of any kind to a halt during this time. However, some people don’t take the lockdown seriously and continue to go about life as normal.

A couple in Nseleni, KwaZulu-Natal decided that their wedding day would still go forward, despite the government banning unnecessary social gatherings.

According to SAPS national spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo, about 50 people gathered to witness the big day. The police received a tip-off that the wedding was happening and showed up to break it up.

The bridal couple were caught red-handed and in a video, they can be seen getting into the back of a police vehicle.

They arrested them ?????? pic.twitter.com/J1U2YueSax

— NdimhleFcukedUp (@JackDevero) April 5, 2020

Wedding ends with an arrest #lockdown #LockdownSA #CONVID19 pic.twitter.com/UfslcMkEdw

— Cardinal Ndiks Gatsheni (@Ndiks17) April 5, 2020

#CityOfuMhlathuze More than 50 people arrested in a wedding at Nseleni outside Richards Bay today for contravening the #COVID2019 #lockdown regulations @ZOPublications @GCIS_KZN @ecr9495 @ukhozi_fm @eNCA @SAPoliceService @Sandford_Police @SALGA_Gov l pic.twitter.com/NaMagUWpUg

— uMhlathuze (@UmhlathuzeM) April 5, 2020

Naidoo says the couple have contravened the Disaster Management Act, and everyone that was present will be questioned.

“People are still taking chances, not realising the seriousness of this virus,”  Naidoo said.

“The prosecutor will guide us on exactly which charges will be preferred against them. I don’t think we can be expecting any explanation from them at this point in time unless we have spoken to the senior prosecutor.”

Feature image: Twitter

Julia Luckett and Nick Pierce wanted their best friend to be part of their special day. Zhivago (their dog) has been part of their little family for three years, and they weren’t about to get married without him.

So they made him the photographer! “We knew we wanted to incorporate him into the wedding somehow, but he’s definitely a very adventurous and spirited dog,” Luckett told Insider.  “It just seemed like an amazing idea that’s really quirky.” They tied a GoPro to his collar, so all Zhivago had to do was be around them.

“For the whole portion that has cocktail hour, he’s just running from person to person and getting snacks and treats from everyone,” Luckett added. “There’s 10 minutes of footage where he’s just hanging out with one person who’s feeding him cheese off of the appetizer table.”

Watch the special event here:

What a clever idea, especially if you’re getting married at home during lockdown and can’t get a photographer.

Image: Jacquelyn Potter

Loved-up couples the world over are being left devastated as their weddings have to be cancelled amid the COVID-19 outbreak. When this couple were unable to go through with their wedding as planned, they decided to exchange rings of a different kind.

Laura Acton, 25, and Adam Woods, 32, from Oldbury, West Midlands, were scheduled to tie the knot in March. The couple had been saving money to put toward their dream day for four years. However, as the coronavirus outbreak worsened, their big day was forcibly cancelled – less than 24 hours before they were set to walk down the aisle.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0_cI5lAt5X/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

About 18 hours before, their wedding venue contacted the couple to let them know they were closing due to the COVID-19 spread. The couple could not get a refund, but could postpone their wedding to a later date.

“It was one hell of a 24 hours. I am beyond heartbroken. I was supposed to be marrying my best friend but our venue cancelled on us,” Acton told Metro UK.

Devastated, the couple went on ‘honeymoon’ in Liverpool to avoid their home that was covered in wedding decorations. Along the way, they stopped off at a Burger King, where Woods had the idea to exchange onion rings in place of wedding bands.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-AObeAgWZp/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

“Adam ordered some onion rings and when he came back to the car, he told me to put them on – and said we can still exchange rings. You just had to laugh. Seeing as we couldn’t exchange wedding rings we exchanged onion rings.”

She added: “We can still laugh through this as we have each other. If you sit and cry the whole time, you’re only going to make yourself feel worse.”

Feature image: Instagram / Laura Acton

Throughout the world, many are isolating themselves at home amid the coronavirus pandemic. Sitting at home, however, loses its spark quite quickly, and its necessary to find something interesting to pass the time. So why not put on your old wedding dress?

When bestselling American author Curtis Sittenfeld posted this picture in her old wedding dress, a trend was born. She captioned the image, “Social distancing Day 12: Today my kids wanted me to wear my wedding dress at lunch & I couldn’t think of a reason not to.'”

Social distancing Day 12: Today my kids wanted me to wear my wedding dress at lunch & I couldn’t think of a reason not to pic.twitter.com/2snMmwxuGq

— Curtis Sittenfeld (@csittenfeld) March 24, 2020

The tweet now has over 240k likes and 18k retweets. Sittenfield’s followers decided to join in on the fun, pulling their own big day dresses out of retirement.

My wife saw your tweet and was inspired. pic.twitter.com/WKrCJB1XRE

— Peter Sagal (@petersagal) March 25, 2020

Needed to train @GoZwift pic.twitter.com/ZHCeBfN4gN

— Bike Repair Bear (@Hostilebear) March 25, 2020

Me and hubby decided to try our 42 year old wedding outfits on last week – just for fun ? mine still fits !!! pic.twitter.com/Usnh7hgH7L

— sue redding (@redding_sue) March 25, 2020

Day 7 of quarantine in my mom’s basement, her wedding dress was all I could find to wear pic.twitter.com/5E9ECqaRHm

— Diana Biggs (@DianacBiggs) March 25, 2020

Me either…alone at work. pic.twitter.com/VVUsYo1Dqa

— Marybeth Campbell (@MbCGreen) March 24, 2020

Feature image: Twitter / Curtis Sittenfeld