Love in the time of coronavirus: Two women are married on a New York STREET by officiant who leans out of fourth-floor window as wedding goes ahead despite social distancing
- Reilly Jennings, 28 and Amanda Wheeler, 38, moved up their wedding due to concerns the coronavirus outbreak would impact their venue and travel plans
- Both also were concerned because the gym where Wheeler is employed shut down because of the outbreak
- Jennings and Wheeler also were unable to get married when the city’s official marriage license office closed due to the novel COVID-19
- The couple turned to their Matt Wilson, a friend and licensed marriage officiant to perform the wedding while he hung from a four story window
- Onlookers took pictures as Jennings and Wheeler tied the knot on the street in Manhattan’s Washington Heights section
- The happily married couple cozied up for a kiss, ignoring social distancing, to make their union official
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Two women got married on a New York street with help from a friend who is a licensed marriage officiant and performed the ceremony while hanging from a building window four stories above the happy couple, in defiance of the coronavirus.
Reilly Jennings, 28 and Amanda Wheeler, 38, decided to tie the knot on Friday on a street in Manhattan’s Washington Heights section, after they moved up their wedding date from October.
The couple said their ‘I dos’ and ignoring social distancing guidelines, cozied up for a kiss that was witnessed by several onlookers who snapped photos and took footage which has gone viral online.
Reilly Jennings, 28 and Amanda Wheeler, 38, decided to tie the knot on Friday on a street in Manhattan’s Washington Heights section, after they moved up their wedding date from October. They are pictured in an Instagram photo posted on Jenning’s account
Matt Wilson (pictured in the window), a friend who is a licensed marriage officiant, performed the ceremony while hanging from a building window four stories above the happy couple
Onlookers are seen taking pictures of the happy couple as they exchanged their vows
A woman takes a photo of Wilson as he performs the ceremony from four stories above
Jennings and Wheeler, ignoring social distancing, cozied up for a kiss after saying their ‘I dos’
The quickie union came about after both women worried the deadly flu-like infection, also known as COVID-19, would likely close their wedding venue and create travel restrictions that would impact their plans, reports NBC.
As of Sunday more than 30,200 people in the US have tested positive for coronavirus and 386 have died since the nationwide outbreak began less than two months ago.
In New York state, there are more than 15,000 cases. The virus has been blamed for the deaths of at least 114 people who were infected.
There have been more than 30,200 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the US as of Sunday night. The virus also has been blamed for at least 386 known deaths
Jennings and Wheeler are pictured in a social media posting made by Jennings
When New York’s official marriage license office was closed, in an effort to slow the spread of the virus, Jennings and Wheeler turned to a friend, Matt Wilson, who is a licensed marriage officiant.
Wilson performed the wedding while hanging from a window four stories above the couple.
He first quoted an excerpt from ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’, the novel by Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez, to set the mood for their coronavirus version of a wedding ceremony.
‘It was perfect, classic New York,’ Jennings said.
‘Everything I love about this city was encompassed in that moment.’