It feels like the end of the world. So we should get married now.

Across the world, the epidemic has forced the postponement of countless weddings, which are top social events of the year in many traditional societies. But some couples are somehow still finding a way to tie the knot — because they just can’t wait or are convinced it’s now or never.

“I read a lot about the deteriorating situation in Italy, the number of total deaths every day, I was terrified,” Taweel recalled. “I woke [my partner] up in the middle of night telling him, ‘If the world is about to end, we have to hurry up to live some days together first,’ and he super agreed.”…

Many governments have recognized the risk of the virus spreading during weddings and moved quickly to close down weddings halls and ban gatherings. In a tragic case in Morocco, just days before a lockdown was declared, a wedding in the country’s tiny Jewish community and its celebration of the Purim festival resulted in dozens of infections and 12 deaths from the coronavirus.