It’s been a rocky few weeks across Scotland, Europe and the rest of the world, and if you are one of those whose wedding plans have been put on ice as a result of the burgeoning crisis, you have our deepest sympathies: we know how much time, effort and money it takes to organise a celebration, and we hate to see anything put a spanner in the works, much less a global pandemic.
But, as we all know, love stops for no man (or virus), and we’ve found ourselves feeling somewhat uplifted of late by an influx of inspiring stories online. We’ve been comforted by tales of couples searching for ways to express their feelings, whether that be in the heady early days of dating, or when the time comes to say that all-important ‘yes’ or ‘I do’, so here’s a round-up of our favourite recent anecdotes from the interwebs. Take it from us, the romance experts: love will always find a way.
Can I have your number?
Making the first move is difficult enough without strict social-distancing measures, but New York City photographer Jeremy Cohen nevertheless found an ingenious solution to the problem. After spotting his neighbour dancing on her Brooklyn rooftop, he knew he just had to give her his number – and so he taped it on to a drone and flew it over to her.
In a video shared to Instagram, Cohen said, “I usually find flirting quite daunting, but, since I’ve been quarantined in my apartment for a week now, I’ve been craving some social interaction.” The gamble certainly paid off, as the lady in question sent him a message an hour later.
Cohen wrote, “I can’t believe this actually worked, and yes this is a real story. There’s going to be a part two in the next couple of days.” We can’t wait to hear what happened next…
Like two peas in a pod
If, like us, you were glued to your screens devouring Love is Blind all of February, this one’s for you. Inspired by the Netflix smash-hit, Brooklyn roommates Thi Q. Lam and Rance Nix have launched ‘Love is Quarantine’, an online experiment pairing up potential matches in ‘pandemic pods’, allowing individuals to get to know each other over the phone during the city’s shutdown.
Starting with the pair’s immediate social circle, the duo spent the first night armed with a Google spreadsheet and Instagram account. Thirty contestants were paired off in the first ‘season’ (the evening of activity, basically), with participants then forwarding on video recaps and screenshots for people to enjoy the action on social media.
The venture now has over 15,000 followers on Instagram, and has seen nights tailored for ‘boomers’ and frontliners (think doctors, nurses, grocery store workers, etc). Lam and Nix have even set up an online shop filled with merch, with all profits going towards efforts to fight COVID-19. So, would you embark on potential love, sight unseen?
Question popped on aisle 12
We’ve likely all fantasised about the day the love of our life gets down on one knee and asks us to marry them: the gesture is so grand and the sentiment so sweet that the setting doesn’t matter… right?
Nurse Robert Ormsby had been planning to propose to girlfriend Patsy Murdoch whilst on a romantic trip to Iceland, however the holiday had to be cancelled owing to the spread of coronavirus. Determined to put a ring on it, however, Ormsby nevertheless came up with a loophole which would allow him to pop the question at his preferred locale – by asking at his local Iceland store in Tonbridge.
A picture of the moment the groom-to-be popped the question then went viral on Facebook, prompting widespread approval across the social-media site. “It’s nice to know you can cheer somebody up by doing something that was just a humorous thing to make up for what we were going to miss,” the nurse later told BBC News. The best bit? As an engagement present the grocery chain have gifted the couple a honeymoon to its namesake destination. And to think we usually just pop in for a 24-pack of Diet Coke.
Do you take this squirrel?
Twitter has been going mad for Animal Crossing: New Horizons ever since the game launched for Nintendo Switch last week. With avatars free to wander the idyllic woodland setting, it’s no surprise that it’s given users a freedom not permitted IRL ATM, what with the corona lockdown, and now the interface is being used to solve the problem of outlawed social gatherings.
Posting a screengrab to Reddit, user Ashmush wrote, “My fiancé and I had to cancel our upcoming wedding due to COVID-19, so our best friends gave us a surprise Animal Crossing wedding instead.” The couple, who Business Insider has since identified as Sharmin Asha and Nazmul Ahmed, were due to marry in mid-April but have understandably been forced to cancel their plans, with Asha’s med-school graduation in May also left up in the air thanks to the global pandemic.
“I was feeling pretty down about missing out on my milestones,” Asha continued. “This made me so happy, I don’t even have the words to describe how much it meant to me.” Congratulations to the ‘newlyweds’ – minimoon in the village?
Playing to the gallery
You’ll no doubt have seen the clips of Italians performing impromptu musical numbers from their balconies circulating the web, but in Spain one couple, determined not to be outdone, decided to go one step further. Alba Díaz and Daniel Camino had spent the best part of a year organising their big day for 190 of their loved ones: professional planner Díaz had arranged a warehouse wedding in the north of the country, with guests joining them from as far afield as Iceland. Yet, sadly the celebration had to be called off at the last minute, one day before the event, as the country entered a strict lockdown which made the planned gathering impossible.
Rather than let this deter them, the two instead decided to say ‘I do’ out of the windows of their A Coruña apartment after guests started sending them pictures of them all dressed up with no place to go. With one next-door neighbour officiating the ceremony and another acting as a witness, the groom dressed in a suit whilst the bride donned the hand-sewn gown she had been anticipating wearing. “In the end it felt like our wedding,” Díaz told The Guardian. “It was unique, special and very personal,” Camino continued.
We wish these lovebirds all the best – after their two-week honeymoon spent together in quarantine, obviously!