When Patel proposed last year, it happened, fittingly, in Minecraft. He designed a secret quest line for Nguyen’s character, culminating in a mountaintop scene where an NPC delivered his proposal via in-game dialog. âHe knew Iâd say yes before I even reached the end,â Nguyen says, laughing.
So when it came time to plan their wedding, Minecraft wasnât just a nostalgic choiceâit was inevitable. âItâs the closest thing we have to a shared home,â Nguyen explains. âWeâve lived apart our whole relationship. That world is where we live together.â (The couple now lives together in Portland.)
Their virtual wedding included 15 custom NPCs recounting their love story, a cathedral constructed from sea lanterns and obsidian blocks, and a scavenger hunt where guests helped retrieve a âforgotten heirloomâ to unlock the altar. Around 50 friends and family attended, logging in from eight countries. âWe had some older relatives watch via Twitch since they werenât gamers,â Patel says.
While some guests were skeptical at first, both families ultimately embraced it. âMy parents loved that it was so personal,â Nguyen says. âThey didnât really understand Minecraft, but they understood that this was us.â
The whole event cost around $300, mostly for custom skin commissions, server hosting, and paying a designer to help with scripting the NPCs and quests. âWay cheaper than a real-world venue,â Patel says. âAnd no seating charts.â
They also held a small in-person dinner a few weeks later for local relatives, but for them, the Minecraft ceremony was âthe real wedding.â
In the Roblox metaverse, Ashley Rivera, 27, from San Diego, and Luna Kim, 26, from Seoul, held their wedding inside a pastel castle floating among digital clouds. The couple met five years ago in a Roblox fashion design community, bonding over a shared love of avatar styling, digital art, and hyperpop playlists. âWeâd spend hours just designing outfits together,â Kim says. âIt wasnât just about dressing upâit was about creating little versions of ourselves and dreaming up lives for them.â
Though they had never played Roblox competitively, they were deeply embedded in its social and creative subcultures. âWe met most of our friends there,â Rivera says. âItâs where we threw birthday parties, hosted art shows, organized karaoke nights. It was our town square.â
When Kim proposed last summer, it happened inside a Roblox âfashion showâ theyâd built together. âShe walked an avatar down the runway holding a giant neon ring,â Rivera says. âAnd I just started sobbing.â
Their wedding reflected that same playful spirit. Guests arrived as anime-style avatars dressed in themed looksâcottagecore, fairy, or postapocalyptic chic. Instead of a cocktail hour, guests completed an obstacle course Kim designed. Instead of a DJ, they programmed a scripted dance party synced to their favorite hyperpop tracks.