UAE's first metaverse wedding today: How it will unfold

Florian Ughetto and Liz Nunez are creating history by being the first couple in the UAE to get married in metaverse later on May 19. The event which will be attended by close family and friends of the couple will be held in Decentraland.

Dressed in a swanky, customized black and brown suit and a beautiful white dress purchased off the largest NFT marketplace Open Sea for approximately $100, Florian and his bride Liz will walk down the aisle in their own private plot on Decentraland.

Along with them will be 20 of their closest friends and family, who will join them in the metaverse from the comfort of their own homes. They will exchange vows followed by speeches by the best man and maid of honour. Then, the small group will head off to an unknown location in the metaverse to party the whole night away.

“I am from France and my wife is Paraguayan,” said Florian Ughetto.

“We dreamt of flying in our family and friends from France and Paraguay to Dubai to attend our wedding. However, Covid and legal hurdles played spoilsport. That is when we decided to take things to the metaverse.”

The couple who got legally married in Georgia in 2019 faced a lot of legal issues because of our different nationalities while trying to get their marriage registered. “That is one of the reasons why we chose to fly to Georgia to register our marriage,” said Florian.

The couple are really excited about their wedding which is scheduled to be held on May 19, 2022. “We have had several practice runs,” Florian said.

“But I am really nervous. The biggest challenge we face is of connectivity. If anyone’s computer glitches or has a connectivity problem, we will have an issue. That is why we have recorded backups of everything, including our vows. But we are keeping our fingers crossed that everything runs smoothly.”

Inspired by their legal hassle, the couple decided to set up their own wedding planning company Easy Wedding. “Once we returned, we decided to set up our own company to help couples like us who face legal nightmares when trying to register their marriage,” said Florian.

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“In a city like Dubai where people from all over the world come, meet and fall in love, we felt like a service like ours would help people immensely”

The company has grown since it was set up and now has offices in Seychelles and US apart from its parent company in Dubai. The couple hope to experiment with their metaverse wedding before offering the same service to couples all over the world. Although the final cost of the wedding is still not available, it is thought to be in upwards of Dh3,000. The couple hope that the service will be helpful to those who face legal and other restrictions in the post-pandemic times.

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