Zoom wedding ceremony in Paris – get married via video chat

What is a zoom wedding ceremony in Paris? Let me explain. Zoom is a video chat platform similar to Skype or Facetime. Zoom became very popular during this covid pandemic, especially when people had to work from home. Therefore many people use Zoom to host or attend video conferences instead of in person business meetings or work reunions.

But also weddings and elopements became more complicated, sometimes even impossible during this COVID-19 pandemic. As officiant in Paris I mainly work with couples from abroad. They travel to Paris to elope or celebrate their destination wedding in France. But due to the coronavirus pandemic many countries (temporarily) closed their boarders and implemented severe travel restrictions. Until now international travel is very limited. That’s why most of my couples were not able to travel to France this year to elope or get married in Paris.

Get married in Paris in spite of covid-19

Consequently most of my couples rescheduled their Paris elopement or wedding in France. They will get married in Paris at a later date when international travel is possible and safe again. However there are also couples who don’t want to wait another year or so to get married. But still Paris has always been their dream wedding destination.

This was also the case of Livier & Jeff. They first rescheduled to next summer. But due to work commitments etc. they were not sure whether they would actually be able to make it next year. But they did not want to wait even longer.

So bride Livier wrote me: “Laura, we wanted to ask you a crazy question: We were wondering if you would consider marrying us over zoom? Is this something you would be open to doing for us? We really love how you put everything together and would hate to lose you as an officiant!”

Honestly, for me as their celebrant in Paris there was only one possible answer: Absolutely, sure thing! Let’s get you married with a Zoom Paris wedding ceremony – I’m in and can’t wait!

Zoom ceremony in Parc Monceau

Livier & Jeff originally wanted to get married in Parc Monceau in the early morning. So on the day of their Zoom Paris wedding ceremony I went to Parc Monceau to officiate their elopement at the exact same spot that we had planned. Whereas Livier & Jeff were standing in another park on the other side of the world: Golden Gate park in San Francisco. With a time difference of 9 hours they chose their Sunday morning (to avoid crowds in San Francisco) which was my early evening.

As their Paris officiant I tried to send Livier & Jeff as much of Paris as possible to the other side of the globe. So in the beginning of our Zoom video call I took my phone and walked them around in the park. I showed them all my favorite spots in Parc Monceau that they need to visit when they travel to Paris sometime in the future.

I also incorporated a French song into their ceremony for a bit more of a Parisian touch at the other side of the world. Also I mailed them from Paris to USA a Paris-themed keepsake folder including a symbolic certificate and print of their ceremony script.

Flower ritual via wedding video chat

Something else was very important for bride Livier: Her mother passed away not long ago. Originally we had planned to incorporate a participative ritual into their Paris elopement ceremony to honor her memory. This was unfortunately not possible anymore via Zoom video chat. Instead I suggested another simple ceremony ritual: I laid down a white flower for her mother on the little bridge in Parc Monceau, which was supposed to be their wedding ceremony location.

Livier asked me for a gladiolus. This flower reminded her on her mother who used to grow them in her garden. So the white gladiolus represented the bride’s mother. By laying down the flower in Parc Monceau Livier’s mother was symbolically with us during the ceremony. Moreover she has her spot now in Parc Monceau and is waiting here for her daughter when she’ll travel herself to Paris one day.

Feel free to also check a little video about Livier & Jeff’s Zoom wedding ceremony in Paris on my Instagram on IG TV and IG highlights.

Vendors of this zoom wedding ceremony in Paris:

Zoom celebrant: The Paris Officiant
Video chat: Zoom
Photography: Pierre Torset Paris Photographer

Kind words about this zoom Paris wedding ceremony:

Livier & Jeff about The Paris Officiant: