A wedding guest wearing a surgical mask looks into the camera, as the soon-to-be married couple is seen in the background at the entrance lobby of the Athens City Hall, in Athens, Greece, on April 8, 2020. 'Love prevails' is the message conveyed by two determined couples who were undeterred by the lockdown gloom and got married at the Athens City Hall on Wednesday. (Photo by Lefteris Partsalis/Xinhua)
ATHENS, April 8 (Xinhua) -- 'Love prevails' is the message conveyed by two determined couples who were undeterred by the lockdown gloom and got married at the Athens City Hall on Wednesday.
With confirmed infections now totaled 1,884 and fatalities at 83 since Greece registered its first infection on Feb. 26, the entire country is in lockdown from March 23 until April 27 as part of the efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
People's movement is banned except for a few specific reasons and weddings fall under this category, with conditions. Achilleas and Irene were exceptions as their first child will be born next month.
On Wednesday, they exchanged vows with only two witnesses standing by their side, not the big group of relatives and friends they had dreamt about, but they were still happy because they have each other, they told Xinhua after the brief ceremony.
"It feels odd, but I like the fact that I am together with my loved one. I like the fact that we are expecting our daughter and we are now officially a married couple, a family," said Achilleas, a taxi driver.
"We just took all the necessary precautionary measures and we stick to the substantial, without too much fuss," added Irene.
Achilleas and Irene will not have an extravagant reception or honeymoon trip to an Aegean Sea island or an exotic destination soon. They laughed at the idea of live-streaming their big moment, but they will send their families and friends photographs and short videos.
One day they will be narrating to their daughter that their wedding was not an ordinary one like the 50,000 or so held in Greece per year, but one of the few exceptions during an unprecedented pandemic.
Athena and Robert, two Albanian immigrants in Greece, were the next in line at the City Hall on Wednesday.
They never thought about canceling or postponing their big day, but decided to carry on with a scaled-down wedding, they told Xinhua.
"We continue to go after our goals in life. We had scheduled something and we did not allow the coronavirus to stop us. Whatever happens, even if we would die tomorrow, we will be together," Athena said.
They will party with their beloved ones one day once the epidemic is over. On Wednesday, they were overjoyed having their first dance as a married couple inside the City Hall.
For the happy newly-weds and Sakis Kollatos, deputy mayor of Athens, who officiated the weddings, no virus is strong enough to kill love.
"Life goes on, as we say. We definitely still have weddings, but in limited numbers, for those who must tie the knot due to pregnancies or other special reasons," the official explained.
"It is a message of optimism for people who stay indoors, who stay at home. These young people are what we are calling dawn, sunshine, they are life. That is why we are here," he told Xinhua.
