On the day of his wedding, a groom-to-be met one of the men who would be standing next to him at the alter.
But despite never having met face-to-face, Charles Powell and Joe Walters were already close friends, having met online playing Xbox live 15 years ago.
The 28-year-old from Cincinnati met Walters, who lives in Detroit, in 2003 when he was just 13 years old.
He told Buzzfeed News that one day they were both playing a game called Phantasy Star Online on the original Xbox when he walked up to Walters and started a conversation about an item he needed.
Charles Powell (far left) and Joe Walters (right in the left photo) met in person for the first time last Saturday, on the day of Powell’s wedding, after meeting for the first time 15 years ago while playing Phantasy Star Online on Xbox live
Powell even asked Walters to stand next to him as one of his groomsmen on the day he got married to his new wife, Myra. They are pictured together during their wedding reception
Through him, Powell met two other players, William Brown, from Tennessee, and Joey Morris, who lives in Baltimore.
The four young men had a lot in common, and soon began sending each other messages and coordinating times to play together.
‘I would come home from school and they would be online and I would be online,’ he told Buzzfeed.
‘We just liked the same things.’
Powell also invited two other men, William Brown, from Tennessee and Joey Morris, from Baltimore. The men pictured left to right are Brown, Morris, Walters and Powell
Powell is pictured with some of his groomsmen and friends at the wedding. He said that when he invited his online friends to his wedding, they knew it was the perfect opportunity for a meet up
Until now the group has never been able to meet, so last weekend, when Powell set out to marry Myra, his three online friends got on planes to his wedding to witness the special moment.
Powell explained that they’ve wanted to meet in person for a long time, and have tried to set something up in the past, but ultimately could never make it work.
So when Powell invited them to his wedding, they decided this was the perfect opportunity for a meet up.
And being the closest to Sinjo, Powell asked him to be one of his groomsmen.
He said that when he picked up his friend at the airport they jumped to greet each other.
‘We already knew each other,’ he told Buzzfeed. ‘It was like we were already family.’