Max Levy And Izaskun Fontanals didn't let Covid-19 thwart their wedding plans
True love will not be thwarted by a pandemic. While some couples are postponing or cancelling their weddings, others are embracing the new normal by conducting their ceremonies online via Zoom or Instagram—like Max Levy, chef-owner of Okra, and sake sommelier Izaskun Fontanals.
They said “I do” at the Cotton Tree Drive marriage registry in April, after the virus foiled their plans to marry this summer in Ibiza, where they first met. “We were in Ibiza in February scouting for locations, and we watched as flights were being cancelled all over the world,” Levy says. “It was going to be a stretch to expect our friends and family to make a trip to Ibiza for our wedding. We decided we would just get married at the government office in Hong Kong and stream it on Instagram and Facebook.”
Fittingly, the couple tied the knot on the day of Sant Jordi festival, a traditional celebration of love and literature in Fontanals’ native Catalonia.
With her wearing a black lace dress and a leather jacket with the words “Till death” on the back and him dressed in a navy suit, the couple exchanged vows in front of two witnesses and a virtual crowd of friends and family who tuned in from 33 places across the world— from Beijing to Brazil, Melbourne to Moscow. “Some guests dressed up; others made a point of watching the ceremony naked, so that they could finally say they attended a casual wedding,” Levy says.
That wasn’t the only surprise element: Fontanals created a virtual seating chart using Hasbro’s family classic Guess Who? game, sticking photos of each guest onto the pop-up deck to mimic a congregation.
“We were having trouble finding a way to display our guests in a fun and easily transportable way,” says Levy. “The plan was to film Lego men with all their headshots but we couldn’t find enough Lego pieces. We then thought gummy bear guests, but finally a friend suggested Guess Who?. We made sure to treat the seating arrangement as if it were real too. Certain people would definitely be upset sitting next to others—even virtually,” says Levy.
See also: Event Planning In A Time Of Social Distancing: How To Choose Your Guest List
