Fairytale wedding held on Bruny Island with Zoom amid coronavirus restrictions
The coronavirus lockdown hasn’t stopped one Bruny Island couple from making their love official, livestreaming their wedding to loved ones across the world using Zoom technology.
Tasmania
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THE BRIDE wore white, the groom played the drums, and it may just have been Tasmania’s first-ever virtual wedding.
Garry Deutsher and Chris Varney-Clark’s coronavirus-era love story unfolded last Sunday as they tied the knot at home on Bruny Island, saying “I do” as dozens of loved ones joined in via Zoom video conferencing.
Making their tale even more remarkable was their Quarantine Bay wedding venue, which they have called home for more than a year and where WWI soldiers were stationed a century ago during the Spanish flu pandemic.
Mr Deutsher and Ms Varney-Clark, who run the Free Spirit Pods accommodation, had booked a real-life wedding for late May at a Bruny Island restaurant, but called it off when the COVID-19 restrictions came into force.
But after finally finding the right match, they didn’t want to wait any longer to celebrate their nuptials.
“As far as we know, it was Tasmania’s first virtual wedding. It was a bit of a hoot, we had family and friends and we streamed it live,” Mr Deutsher said.
“We were only allowed to have five people at the wedding — us and three others — with the other three being the celebrant and a lady walking around doing some things with Zoom and a local girl doing the still photography.
“But using Zoom, we had about 65 guests in the end — we had some people from Berlin, some people from the UK, a few Kiwis and people from Darwin, Brisbane and Sydney.”
Mr Deutsher staged a funny skit for the guests online in his gumboots and boxer shorts before Ms Varney-Clark arrived at the bush location in a vintage Alvis.
Then after they were officially wed, the couple traded in some of their official attendees for some friends and musicians before Mr Deutsher performed Brass in My Pocket by The Pretenders for his new wife.
Speeches were delivered from various locations before all guests chimed in with champagne toasts and the virtual clinking of glasses.
Ms Varney-Clark said the couple and their guests “surprisingly found it very intimate”.
“The feedback we got from people was how joyful and inclusive it was.”
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