MACON, Ga. — On March 28, 2020, Joshua and Jillian Ogundele were set to get married in Savannah. "We didn't know up until last week that there was actually no wedding, so it was down to the wire."
COVID-19 changed that.
"We were OK with the virtual, but we still wanted a way to make it where it wasn't just anybody, 'You're bored at home, come see the latest coronavirus video,' we didn't want that," says Jillian Ogundele.
So a friend suggested using Zoom, where the virtual attendees needed a special password to watch the ceremony.
In front of more than 100 of their friends and family, they became husband and wife.
"It really was exciting to see. It was something that was new for me and a lot of people on there, but it definitely was a memorable experience," says pastor Paul Little of Bibb Mt. Zion in Macon.
Little helped officiate the wedding by saying the opening prayer. He says the experience was new, but it still followed the traditional ceremony.
"Still go through the process through the magistrate court just like normal, the only difference is we're not physically signing the paper work at the time of the wedding," he says.
Little says he's had a handful of couples reaching out to him about wedding alternatives, and he's started to suggest Zoom for the ceremony. "The Zoom concept is picking up pretty big. I really see that as being sort of a new trend as we're embracing this temporary new normal. I could definitely see more couples going in that direction."
The newlyweds say they're postponing their honeymoon and they're thinking about having a reception with friends and family next year.
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