Now, New Yorkers can have 'video weddings' via Zoom
What's the story
Given the whole COVID-19 situation, New York has officially started allowing wedding ceremonies to be conducted via video conference. This means that as long as the pandemic continues to proliferate across the state, leaving marriage bureaus closed, people in the state can choose to get married on services like Zoom and Skype. Here's all you need to know about it.
Permission
Permission for online wedding ceremonies
Andrew Cuomo, the Governor of New York, has tweeted out that he has issued an executive order that allows people to obtain their marriage licenses remotely and clerks to perform wedding ceremonies over video. "Video marriage ceremonies -- there's now no excuse when the question comes up," Cuomo said in a press briefing on Saturday. "You can do it by Zoom," he added.
Twitter Post
Here's Cuomo's tweet
NEW: I am issuing an Executive Order allowing New Yorkers to obtain a marriage license remotely and allowing clerks to perform ceremonies via video conference.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) April 18, 2020
Situation
This comes as a major move amid COVID-19 pandemic
The order from the governor comes as a major relief for couples that have been waiting desperately for marriage bureaus to open up. But the thing is, even when the pandemic comes under control and the shelter-in-place order enforced across the state gets lifted, it will be a while before any kind of public gathering, including jam-packed wedding ceremonies, could be allowed.
Details
You could use any video-conferencing app
Notably, the order doesn't specify any particular app/platform that should be used for getting married online. You could use Zoom, as cited by Cuomo, or some other video platform that could host the number of friends and family members you want to invite to the digital ceremony. Many, for instance, have used FaceTime for weddings, as it supports up to 32 people per call.
Other activities
Other activities have also moved online due to coronavirus
Along with weddings, plenty of other activities - including dinner parties, schooling, concerts, cabinet meetings - have moved to video-conferencing services, as people try to get on with their lives even during the pandemic. The COVID-19 disease, which started spreading from the Chinese city of Wuhan, has so far claimed over 38,000 lives in the US, of which 13,000+ have been New Yorkers.