ROANOKE, Va. – The coronavirus can’t control the course of love.
Two couples from the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine decided to tie the knot even though their weddings did not happen as planned.
Quinn and Stephen Owen and Abby Winn and Cody Roberts had weddings scheduled for May.
Both couples have postponed their weddings to next year, but they decided to get married now. Winn and Roberts exchanged their vows in the presence of just a couple other people.
“It was just the two of us,” said Roberts. “Our wedding officiant, our wedding planner and our photographer and everyone was in gloves and masks and our officiant signed our marriage license in a mask and gloves.”
After saying “I do”, the two did as they’d usually do.
“We got Fortunato takeout from downtown,” said Winn. “And we came home and changed out of our fancy clothes and got in our pajamas and watched ‘The Office.’”
The Owens were also happy with their choice to move forward.
"We went ahead and moved it up to April 18 of this year," said Quinn.
They committed their lives, while letting go of the initial celebration, which they said, can distract from the meaning behind all that follows.
“We really prize the idea of marriage over the idea of a ceremony or a wedding," said Stephen. “Which is a little bit, potentially counter-cultural based on the current wedding culture which is mostly about the ceremony, the money spent and the flowers."
More than 100 people watched their ceremony on Zoom.
"We put the computer up on the stage at the church with us," said Quinn.
The Zoom guests participated in unconventional, yet fitting, ways.
"Some people dressed up, some people were toasting to us. It was a lot of fun to see that,” said Quinn.
“Yeah, one of our favorite backgrounds was a pure toilet paper background, so it was pretty awesome,” said Stephen.
While both couples are now married, they haven’t completely given up on celebrating in person with family and friends.
Their original ceremonies and receptions are now next year.