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Maryland couple holds virtual wedding during coronavirus pandemic

Two Maryland stylists planned their wedding in 10 days and streamed the ceremony live on Zoom, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.

MARYLAND, USA — The coronavirus sped up the wedding date for one Maryland couple. 

Sondra and Daraile Cunnigham tied the knot for all to see while streaming on multiple platforms. Sondra said though the pandemic is taking a toll on their business, they’re able to use this time to invest in their love.

Daraile Cunningham said it wasn’t easy to snag Sondra. 

“I was chasing her, for a while, and she was giving me a hard way to go like yeah, she's giving me a hard way to go. Yeah, I’m telling it all.”

The Cunninghams met while working in a salon together. He finesses the clippers, she lays the edges. The pandemic not only altered their wedding plans, but it temporarily closed their shop. 

“It’s been a little tough, but we’ve been keeping the faith knowing that this won’t last forever,” Daraile added.

Daraile’s proposal in the church brought Sondra to her knees. It was hard to hear, but after she gathered her emotions, she said yes. They’ve had setbacks in wedding planning before, but what seemed like another attack on their love, was actually just the time they needed. 

“Ten days ago, he said, ‘Look around. What do you see? It’s us.’ We’ve been fighting for these years, we've been raising kids we've been running a business, we've been partners, we've been, you know, so many different things. If we wait another year you know, who knows what God has this year? This virus may never go away,” Sondra said.

So in their home, with just their family, and of course the crowd on Zoom, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook, all were able to watch the lovers say I do.

“I always wanted a good marriage, I was invested in the marriage, not the wedding,” Sondra said.

The Cunninghams said if there are any couples out there bummed about their plans being ruined, to just do it.  One of the other takeaways from their wedding is to make sure the Zoom operator mutes all the viewers' microphones so nobody is talking during the ceremony.

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