A South Florida couple didn’t let the coronavirus pandemic stop them from getting married. Three weeks before the big day, Jamie Webner and Benjamin Katz had to cancel their dream wedding and exchange vows on their balcony in Edgewater.
Jamie’s sister got ordained online so she could officiate the ceremony. Family and friends live-streamed the wedding and neighbors attended as witnesses from a distance.
“We knew the days leading up to it would probably be pretty sad and we figured why not still celebrate, why not still do it, and give our friends and family something to celebrate. Apparently now, hundreds of thousands of other people too,” said Webner.
The balcony wedding went viral. A video posted on the Instagram account “OnlyInDade” shows the couple exchanging vows and a shirtless man exercising in the balcony directly below.
“We felt kind of bad that he went viral as well. He was probably not anticipating his shirtless boxing workout to go viral. But he actually reached out to Ben and congratulated us. He said we can toast together when this is all said and done,” said Webner.
The couple met their freshman year at Tulane University in New Orleans. After over a decade of friendship, they reconnected on a deeper level.
“We were actually just good friends for a long time, like 16 years long time. Then we realized that maybe there was something there, we had been so close for so long, and we always had great connection. It’s been fireworks ever since then,” said Webner.
They newlyweds celebrated in their dining room, with champagne and Italian takeout from Macchialina.
“Our engagement night, we celebrated and went to dinner at Macchialina, the Italian restaurant on Miami Beach, so we ended up ordering dinner from them to celebrate our wedding night. That was special that we were able to tie those two things together,” said Webner.
“A bunch of our guests who would have been in tables together at the wedding set up Zoom calls so that they were all together. So, we jumped between them as if we were dropping in at their tables for the wedding,” said Katz.
Jamie said they’re not sure when they’ll reschedule their wedding ceremony but for now, they are celebrating and their version of a honeymoon involved adopting a puppy.
