On Saturday, May 30, 2020, at 10:50 pm, I climbed out of bed, sat at a desk, and, in the glow of my laptop, watched one of my oldest friends get married.
Technically, the ceremony took place in the United States, where my friend and her now-husband live. But because of the coronavirus pandemic, everything happened entirely online. The couple, officiant, witnesses, and immediate family were all on one Zoom call, which was broadcast live on a secret Facebook group for all their guests to watch from all over the world.
Their Zoom wedding looked something like this: in the top left corner of the screen, the couple, who looked especially beautiful even on a webcam; in the frame below them, the groom’s mother, visibly teary-eyed throughout; in the middle panels, the poker-faced witnesses; in the top right corner, the officiant, and below her, packed tightly into one frame, all 5 of the bride’s family, peering over each others’ heads, calling from Manila.
The rest of us were invisible. We watched them as if from the other side of a two-way mirror. In an effort to feel a little less like a bystander, I dropped a comment just before the ceremony began.
nice one