COVID-19 Couldn’t Beat Out This NY Couple’s Wedding & Love

Alex Fishman and Anthony Shirk got married at Battery Park while friends and family watched online. / Image via Alex Fishman and Anthony Shirk

Love always finds a way.

New York couple Alex Fishman and Anthony Shirk, both aged 29, recently got married. The two decided they didn’t want to wait anymore to honor their partnership and tie-the-knot, so they did it out in public.

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Yes, according to People magazine, the couple were originally planning to get married at the Roundhouse in Beacon, New York. Unfortunately, their plans were postponed till November out of concern for the safety of their guests. But the two didn’t allow that to ruin their happy day and love. They then decided to get married at Battery Park while live-streaming the event over Zoom, a video conferencing platform. They say about 15 to 20 people watched the wedding from the safety of their homes. Meanwhile, four friends and the officiant practiced social distance while witnessing/participating in the event.

“We feel at ease now being a married couple and hopefully providing our families and friends with at least a little bit of happiness during these couple of weeks that have been very challenging,” Fishman told People.

According to the New York Times, the couple met on the dating app Hinge in 2014. They then had their first date in New York’s West Village. Then in 2018, the couple surprised each other by both proposing. Shirk proposed to Fishman during a SoulCycle class in the West Village. Then Fishman proposed to Shirk at their favorite frozen yogurt shop, 16 Handles, in Chelsea.

Photo by Alvin Mahmudov on Unsplash
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After the broadcasted wedding, the couple admitted to feeling bummed about the initial postponement. But, they were intent on celebrating their love.

“We wanted to maintain the excitement for the November date, because we didn’t exchange vows,” Fishman shared. “We’re saving those for the big day.”

Again, the couple does plan to hold an official wedding and reception in November. Then, they plan to go on their honeymoon in San Juan, Puerto Rico. While they are excited for those events to take place, they’re trying to remind themselves about the hearts of a wedding. The union of two people.

“It concretizes the most basic atomic unit of marriage, is the way that we view it, of abstracting all of the glam, the glitz, and the resources that you invest in planning a wedding,” says Shirk. “At the end of the day, it’s about a union of two people and the unrelenting commitment, in spite of all the external factors that are happening in the world. So I think it’s just a reminder of what a marriage entails.”

Sources: People Magazine, The New York Times

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