Image via Virbela
A couple said I love you to the moon, the metaverse, and back during the Labor Day weekend as their avatars tied the knot in the metaverse.
With physical meetings and other events going virtual by necessity and the metaverse starting to take shape, this virtual wedding is a true sign of the times. And Traci Gagnon, 42, and Dave Gagnon, 50, will forever hold their peace as one of the first couples to exchange their vows in a virtual 3D environment.
The pair held a simultaneous hybrid ceremony so loved ones who couldn’t go to the real physical version would still be able to attend, according to the New York Times. These included the maid of honor, who was ill during the wedding, and a friend of the groom who couldn’t make it due to pre-existing health conditions his wife copes with. In the metaverse, the guests could walk the bride down the aisle and deliver a toast respectively.
As the couple first met as avatars at a virtual company event, they felt it fitting to go full circle with a cloud wedding too. They both work at eXp Realty, a firm supportive of communicating in virtual settings. eXp Realty is also under the umbrella of eXp World Holdings, which owns virtual environment host Virbela.
When the Gagnons announced their engagement in 2019, their coworkers jumped in to turn Virbela’s online campus into a wedding venue for free.
As of now, weddings conducted virtually haven’t been legalized, so it was important for the couple to arrange a hybrid ceremony. In real life, they were officiated by a friend and colleague in a live-streamed wedding, and at the same time, guests could register as avatars to be present at the virtual nuptials.
The one in the metaverse saw the bride being walked down the aisle by her friend, who couldn’t be there for the physical wedding, while the groom’s friend went up the stage to raise a toast. The seven-year-old ring bearer and flower girl, a piece of twins, danced at the reception, reports the Times.
Apart from being able to get more yeses in their RSVPs, Traci Gagnon has seen some unusual benefits of tying the knot in the digital world. “I’m always a size four, even in January,” she joked. “And I never have a bad hair day.”
Similarly, anyone wishing to exchange their vows in the metaverse will be able to do so as idealized versions of themselves—plus achieve so much more.
You could have the freedom of holding your wedding in a simulation of anywhere in the world, or even the literal destination of your dreams, and invite thousands of people. The metaverse makes Pinterest-esque weddings look run-of-the-mill. “If you really want to do something different… you might as well let your creativity go wild,” said Sandy Hammer, the founder of Allseated, which provides digital planning tools for weddings.
“A bride can transport her guests into the metaverse: ‘I want my morning session to be in Italy, my evening session to be in Paris.’”
Now that we’re on the subject, how about non-fungible tokens as wedding favors too?
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