Marriage in the metaverse will become common and is next step to online dating, experts claim

METAVERSE weddings may soon become the norm worldwide, according to experts.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, marriages were taking place on Zoom calls – but now, people are taking it a step further on the Metaverse.

Metaverse

Image of a UAE couple getting married in the metaverse[/caption]

The term ‘metaverse’ was popularized by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerburg and describes a virtual world that combines social media, cryptocurrency, augmented reality, and gaming.

But now, the digital platforms are also doubling as out-of-this-world wedding venues.

A number of real-life couples have already tied the knot on metaverse platforms like Decentraland and Virbela.

One such ceremony, which made headlines around the world, includes that of Dinesh Padmavathi and Janaganandhini Ramasamy, per Forbes.

The Indian couple’s wedding comprised personalized NFTs, a virtual musical performance, and a digital resurrection of the bride’s late father.

In another metaverse wedding, the couple Candice and Ryan Hurley were famously able to host 3,200 guests from around the world.

Things like this are possible in virtual venues, and perhaps that’s why they’re becoming more appealing to couples, experts say.

Along with inviting guests who they otherwise could not accommodate in the real world, couples can also customize their venue, attire, and choice of virtual entertainment.

“What’s great about the metaverse is you can just do whatever you want,” Candice Hurley told Morning Brew.

However, all of this personalization doesn’t come free – couples still need to hire a software designer to bring their vision to virtual reality.

This includes things like digital property rental, avatar creation, and the coding for flowers or other wedding props.

“You think, ‘Okay, the virtual is automatically going to be less expensive as well,’ which is why you can see it appealing to a lot of people,” said Rachel Willis, a wedding planner.

“[But] as you keep curating the experience and can get customized, you have to pay somebody to do that. It can be just as expensive.”

Patrick Perry, the director of event sales and partnerships for Virbela, told The New York Times the cost of a metaverse wedding “depends on what you want.”

“If there’s an engineer building out an MGM ballroom or something of that nature, then the cost goes up,” as high as $10,000, in some instances.

Overcoming the stigma of ‘online live’

There was a time when people were embarrassed to date online.

Fast-forward to recent times, though, and nearly 270 million people have used some sort of online dating platform around the world.

In the United States alone, 44.2 million people used dating apps in 2020, with that figure projected to grow to 53.3 million by 2025.

A 2017 Stanford University study. also found that about 40 percent of heterosexual couples in the U.S. met online by the year it was published.

Given the growing popularity of online dating, it only stands to reason that dating and marriages in the metaverse will also become more widespread.