They Fell in Love Playing ‘Minecraft.’ Then the Game Became Their Wedding Venue

When Patel projected past year, it happened, fittingly, successful Minecraft. He designed a concealed quest statement for Nguyen's character, culminating successful a mountaintop segment wherever an NPC delivered his connection via in-game dialog. “He knew I’d opportunity yes earlier I moreover reached nan end,” Nguyen says, laughing.

So erstwhile it came clip to scheme their wedding, Minecraft wasn’t conscionable a nostalgic choice—it was inevitable. “It’s nan closest point we person to a shared home,” Nguyen explains. “We’ve lived isolated our full relationship. That world is wherever we unrecorded together.” (The mates now lives together successful Portland.)

Their virtual wedding included 15 civilization NPCs recounting their emotion story, a cathedral constructed from oversea lanterns and obsidian blocks, and a scavenger hunt wherever guests helped retrieve a “forgotten heirloom” to unlock nan altar. Around 50 friends and family attended, logging successful from 8 countries. “We had immoderate older relatives watch via Twitch since they weren’t gamers,” Patel says.

While immoderate guests were skeptical astatine first, some families yet embraced it. “My parents loved that it was truthful personal,” Nguyen says. “They didn’t really understand Minecraft, but they understood that this was us.”

The full arena costs astir $300, mostly for civilization tegument commissions, server hosting, and paying a designer to thief pinch scripting nan NPCs and quests. “Way cheaper than a real-world venue,” Patel says. “And nary seating charts.”

They besides held a mini in-person meal a fewer weeks later for section relatives, but for them, nan Minecraft ceremonial was “the existent wedding.”

In nan Roblox metaverse, Ashley Rivera, 27, from San Diego, and Luna Kim, 26, from Seoul, held their wedding wrong a pastel castle floating among integer clouds. The mates met 5 years agone successful a Roblox manner creation community, bonding complete a shared emotion of avatar styling, integer art, and hyperpop playlists. “We’d walk hours conscionable designing outfits together,” Kim says. “It wasn’t conscionable astir dressing up—it was astir creating small versions of ourselves and dreaming up lives for them.”

Though they had ne'er played Roblox competitively, they were profoundly embedded successful its societal and imaginative subcultures. “We met astir of our friends there,” Rivera says. “It’s wherever we threw day parties, hosted creation shows, organized karaoke nights. It was our municipality square.”

When Kim projected past summer, it happened wrong a Roblox “fashion show” they’d built together. “She walked an avatar down nan runway holding a elephantine neon ring,” Rivera says. “And I conscionable started sobbing.”

Their wedding reflected that aforesaid playful spirit. Guests arrived arsenic anime-style avatars dressed successful themed looks—cottagecore, fairy, aliases postapocalyptic chic. Instead of a cocktail hour, guests completed an obstacle people Kim designed. Instead of a DJ, they programmed a scripted creation statement synced to their favourite hyperpop tracks.