When Patel proposed final yr, it occurred, fittingly, in Minecraft. He designed a secret quest line for Nguyen’s character, culminating in a mountaintop scene the place an NPC delivered his proposal through in-game dialog. “He knew I’d say sure earlier than I even reached the top,” Nguyen says, laughing.
So when it got here time to plan their marriage ceremony, Minecraft wasn’t only a nostalgic alternative—it was inevitable. “It’s the closest factor we now have to a shared dwelling,” Nguyen explains. “We’ve lived aside our complete relationship. That world is the place we reside collectively.” (The couple now lives collectively in Portland.)
Their digital marriage ceremony included 15 customized NPCs recounting their love story, a cathedral constructed from sea lanterns and obsidian blocks, and a scavenger hunt the place visitors helped retrieve a “forgotten heirloom” to unlock the altar. Round 50 family and friends attended, logging in from eight international locations. “We had some older family members watch through Twitch since they weren’t avid gamers,” Patel says.
Whereas some visitors have been skeptical at first, each households in the end embraced it. “My mother and father beloved that it was so private,” Nguyen says. “They didn’t actually perceive Minecraft, however they understood that this was us.”
The entire occasion value round $300, largely for customized pores and skin commissions, server internet hosting, and paying a designer to assist with scripting the NPCs and quests. “Manner cheaper than a real-world venue,” Patel says. “And no seating charts.”
Additionally they held a small in-person dinner just a few weeks later for native family members, however for them, the Minecraft ceremony was “the true marriage ceremony.”
Within the Roblox metaverse, Ashley Rivera, 27, from San Diego, and Luna Kim, 26, from Seoul, held their marriage ceremony inside a pastel fortress floating amongst digital clouds. The couple met 5 years in the past in a Roblox vogue design neighborhood, bonding over a shared love of avatar styling, digital artwork, and hyperpop playlists. “We’d spend hours simply designing outfits collectively,” Kim says. “It wasn’t nearly dressing up—it was about creating little variations of ourselves and dreaming up lives for them.”
Although they’d by no means performed Roblox competitively, they have been deeply embedded in its social and inventive subcultures. “We met most of our associates there,” Rivera says. “It’s the place we threw birthday events, hosted artwork reveals, organized karaoke nights. It was our city sq..”
When Kim proposed final summer time, it occurred inside a Roblox “vogue present” they’d constructed collectively. “She walked an avatar down the runway holding a large neon ring,” Rivera says. “And I simply began sobbing.”
Their marriage ceremony mirrored that very same playful spirit. Friends arrived as anime-style avatars wearing themed appears to be like—cottagecore, fairy, or postapocalyptic stylish. As a substitute of a cocktail hour, visitors accomplished an impediment course Kim designed. As a substitute of a DJ, they programmed a scripted dance get together synced to their favourite hyperpop tracks.