One Miami couple refused to let the coronavirus pandemic ruin their big day!
According to DailyMail.com, Benjamin Katz and Jamie Webner (above) decided to “take back the date” and get married on their apartment balcony after being forced to call off their wedding due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The socially distant ceremony went viral on Instagram when neighbors from nearby balconies recorded the couple exchanging vows with the help of Jamie’s sister, who officiated the wedding.
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Explaining their decision to “take back the date,” the couple told the outlet:
“We really just wanted to get married and we thought what better time to celebrate love than now? And we quickly realized our family and friends wanted to celebrate, too.”
And celebrate they did! Friends and family logged into Zoom to watch the pair, who met in undergraduate school at Tulane in New Orleans, Louisiana, say “I do” last Saturday.
Originally, the couple were planning on getting hitched in front of 140 guests at the Villa Woodbine, a private mansion in Miami’s lavish Coconut Grove neighborhood. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic forced them to change their plans. Katz recalled:
“We made the call to cancel the wedding three weeks before and told our friends and family that we couldn’t move forward with the plans,’ Katz explained. We have some family members that could be compromised, so we knew we wouldn’t be having a wedding of 140 people.”
Webner admitted that pulling the plug on their big day was “hard,” sharing:
“The few days leading up to the decision were very hard. We spent a morning mourning the loss of our wedding date. There were a lot of tears. But, we quickly started facing issues much larger than our wedding regarding Covid.”
The couple don’t quite know how much money they’ve lost by calling off the wedding, but are “working with our vendors now to figure out how we’re going to handle it.”
However, they were able to make some changes for the CDC-approved ceremony: the bride and groom canceled their photographer and videographer and instead hired a drone operator.
As for the guests, they set up a webinar on Zoom and sent out the would-be playlist for their DJ at the reception so loved ones could listen at home. About 120 people were signed into the “Wed-inar,” although the couple thinks nearly 200 people were watching.
Katz said:
“A lot of people watched, even the guests that couldn’t originally attend. We think more people came to the online wedding than would have come to the physical wedding. I sent it to some old coworkers, and they ended up sending it to the whole office.”
Before the wedding, the bridal party held a private webinar as Webner got dressed and did her makeup. She then went out on the balcony to meet her husband, as her sister conducted the approximately 10-minute ceremony.
Webner added:
“We loved hearing the neighbors cheering and had some friends we know across watching. After the ceremony a few people brought out champagne and were popping corks from us from across the street.”
The couple then had their first dance to Simply The Best by Noah Reid from Schitt’s Creek before greeting their guests via Zoom.
While they read traditional vows during the balcony ceremony, the couple admitted they’ll probably write original vows when they have a celebration with their friends and family. Katz added:
“We figured the traditional vows are especially fitting for this time. We considered writing our own vows, but we decided if we have a celebration or vow renewal with friends, we would save our written ones for that so we aren’t repeating ourselves.”
Good idea!
Wishing them a lifetime of happiness together — and a nice, proper celebration with family and friends when this madness is over!
See more pics of the balcony wedding HERE!
[Image via NBC 6 South Florida]
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