Here Come The Bride And Zoom: Meet The Couples Getting Married Virtually

‘I stood outside my house,wedding dress on, and my two sons knocked on the door to alert the piper, who was waiting on Zoom,’ says Lisa Kabouridis. ‘My sons then walked me down the hallway of our house while our piper played The Sky Boat Song. I met my husband at the “altar” in our living room, where a laptop was waiting with all our guests – ready to watch us get married.’

Last week, Lisa married Graeme Blackett on a sunny Saturday afternoon following countless changes to their wedding day. They had been set to marry at Carlowrie Castle in Edinburgh in a traditional Scottish 12-hour celebration, until Covid-19 led to a ban on all weddings.

‘We’re both quite optimistic people, so we decided to focus on what we could do,’ says Lisa. ‘We didn’t want to wait to start our life together for the sake of the wedding, so we turned to Zoom.’

Over the past few weeks, Zoom weddings have surged in popularity, with countless stories of couples video-conferencing their big day. In Croydon, school sweethearts Sophie Austin and Ben Jackson married in front of 200 virtual guests, while in Bristol, NHS nurse Hayley Pitman was surprised during her Zoom wedding to partner Harvey Skelton when Ellie Goulding appeared on the call to perform.

Over in the US, New York governor Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order to allow weddings to become legally binding where couples obtain licences and marry ‘utilising audio-video technology’.

Current UK law, however, states that witnesses and officiants must be present in person for a wedding to be legal. For Lisa and Graeme, that meant parts of their ceremony had to be left out – including swapping rings and ‘tying the knot’ in the handfasting practice (a Celtic tradition where couples tie their hands together). However, they did say their vows (albeit not in full) to 150 of their friends and family – which was 70 more than had been due to attend the original wedding.

‘For us it was so real,’ says Lisa. ‘We really meant our vows and still said them in front of all our friends and family. It wasn’t like, “Let’s just pretend and have a bit of fun,” it felt like a real celebration and a real wedding.’

And even better, the bride and groom actually got to properly see their guests’ faces as they reacted in real time. Recording the Zoom call and watching it in gallery view on their TV as they tied the knot, Lisa and Graeme now have those unforgettable reactions for the rest of their life.

‘Everybody dressed up, there were loads of my friends wearing hats and all of the guys were wearing kilts,’ Lisa says. ‘And at the end we all did a big cheers and chatted – the call lasted about an hour in total.’

After the Zoom ceremony, Lisa and Graeme got to celebrate with their new blended family (as well as Lisa’s two sons Graeme has a son). The couple had their first dance in the living room – the boys took their wedding photos and, in a stroke of luck, they had their original cake delivered so they could still feast on three tiers of fruit, chocolate and salted caramel goodness.

With lockdown set to continue, virtual weddings may become legal here. ‘We understand the frustration couples planning a wedding must be feeling and are looking at what changes to the law might be possible to help them have their special day,’ a Ministry of Justice spokesperson told Grazia.

Meanwhile, Lisa and Graeme plan to have a huge celebration at their original venue on their first anniversary – but not another ceremony. And they intend to make their marriage legal as soon as possible, maybe by having a celebrant come to their home.

‘This has set the tone for how we’ll go into our lives together,’ says Lisa. ‘We showed what we can do rather than focusing on what we can’t, and we’re trying to take that ethos into everything we do.’

Read more: Stories of love and life in lockdown...