From birthday parties, graduation ceremonies, and even weddings, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the unfortunate cancellations of many real-life events. While these upsetting cancellations are indubitably disappointing, one couple didn't let the virus put a wrench in their wedding plans. Rather, they decided to simply move their wedding to a safer location - to the virtual world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons!
Redditor Ashmush shared a photo of her virtual wedding online. As she explains in her post, her generous and creative fiancé planned out their Animal Crossing celebration by inviting their mutual friends to celebrate on their island. When Ashmush logged into her New Horizons account, she was surprised by the (virtual) presence of all of her friends, a wedding set-up (complete with an altar and aisle) on the island, and a beautiful ceremony waiting for her. In a comment, she explains that, if you look closely at the heart aisle, you can see that her fiancé even engraved a little "N&S" on the ground to represent their initials.
In the same comment, Ashmush also explains that her wedding wasn't the only major event that was canceled due to coronavirus concerns; her medical school graduation was as well. "I was feeling pretty down about missing out on my milestones," she explains.
Missing any milestone event is devastating, but to miss out on two huge ones is a tragedy. But the virtual Animal Crossing wedding Ashmush's fiancé planned for her was exactly what she needed during such an emotional time. "This made me so happy," she says in her post, "I don't even have the words to describe how much it meant to me."
Comments on the post were celebratory and wholesome, with many Redditors congratulating Ashmush's achievements as a recent medical school graduate and marriage milestone. Others shared their own experiences of other cancellations, praising the couple's ingenuity in such a scary time.
This isn't the first time people have turned to video games as a way to make up for their canceled events. One elementary school class in Japan came together on Minecraft for a virtual graduation ceremony, following the closure of their school and the resulting cancellation of their graduation.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available now, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
Source: Reddit, GoNintendo