Important events are canceled due to the coronavirus left and right, and the wedding industry is not immune. It can be devastating to be away from our loved ones and to miss or delay major life milestones, but performing some of the tradition digitally can be a great way to ease the pain and sense of loss. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a great platform to host your virtual wedding.
Make sure you start by assigning roles to your wedding party. You can have a Bridesmaid, a Groomsman, an Officiator, the couple celebrating their love, and a maximum of 3 other guests. Don’t forget that you can only have 8 people on an island at a time. Be sure that you don’t have a guest list over the limit, or you will have to have some awkward conversations about who to uninvite. Gloom had this issue during her animal crossing wedding, and she had fans honor her missing friend with “F”s in the chat to show their respects.
Don’t forget your bachelor and/or bachelorette parties! Traditionally, this would be the job of the bridesmaids and groomsmen to plan, so either choose a friend who might be willing to take this on or be prepared to plan it your self. Schedule these parties earlier in the week of your wedding. Try moving to a different game to really let loose. One option is Club Penguin Online where you can hit up the night club, host a rager in your igloo, or have an underground pool party. Be aware, any adult language can get you kicked out of the chat so watch your beak. (yes, it’s making a comeback).
To let your friends know about the Animal Crossing wedding, create and send formal invitations for your virtual wedding just like you would an in-person event. You can create a classy wedding-themed email invite for free with an Evite or a Facebook event to get everyone connected before the big day. If you really want to be crafty, send real postcards or letters in the mail for only $3.85 in postage. If you prefer to keep communication within the game, you can send out postcards through Dodo Airlines Postal Service. This will only work if you have visited each other’s islands before.
In order to look perfect for the exciting day, use the custom clothing designer to create your perfect dresses or suit, or if you prefer to find some works of art others have made: like this stunning strapless dress made by tumblr user Clam Bay Crossing. Don’t forget to coordinate your wedding colors to the island decor, floral arrangements, and the clothing of your wedding party.
On the day of your virtual wedding, connect with all of your wedding party and guests over chat. Since the main goal of virtual events is to connect with friends and loved ones, it can be most effective if you can create a video chat to see all their faces. You can also use the in-game chat feature, but this will be limited to text. Make sure you create a wedding venue, with an alter, isle, and seats for guests to watch from.
This wedding was planned and hosted by a friend of the happy couple, Professor Linder, who wanted to make sure the couple would get to have at least part of their happy celebration despite the uncertain times. He even got ordained in order to officiate the wedding, even though Animal Crossing weddings are not legally binding.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons can be used for more than just weddings, teens have been using to host graduation ceremonies, and many have used it to host parties. It is more than just a fun game, in these chaotic times its a tool to connect with loved ones and try to emulate just a little bit of the connection we all miss so dearly.
