Photo showing San Francisco wedding during pandemic goes viral

An image by a North Bay photographer of a bride walking down the aisle with her father in a vacant San Francisco church amid the coronavirus shutdown has gone viral, ABC7 reported.

Emily Manashi and Parris Khachi were married Saturday at St. Ignatius Church in San Francisco, and one of their wedding photos has been shared about 37,000 times on Facebook since it was posted Sunday.

The image, captured by Napa Valley-based photographer Vicens Forns, shows Manashi and her dad surrounded by photos of the church's congregation taped to the pews instead of family and friends.

"The church regularly streams their services, and to keep the priest and audience connected they had put pictures of the church members in the pews, and we appreciated the audience," Khachi told ABC7.

Khachi and Manashi had been engaged for nearly a year when the coronavirus outbreak altered their wedding plans. Although they didn't want to put their family and friends at risk, they also didn't want to postpone the wedding.

So they decided to get married with only their immediate families in attendance, and the church livestreamed the ceremony so their other guests could watch.

The couple said that they loved the wedding photos and are looking forward to furnishing their San Francisco apartment for their honeymoon.

"We think it's resonating because we still found a way to celebrate a happy occasion even amongst the current climate," Khachi told ABC7. "

In a way it allowed a wedding to be brought back to basics, in sickness and in health and in pandemic."

We want to know how you're celebrating important milestones, such as weddings and graduations, during the pandemic. Email onlineideas@pressdemocrat.com with your name, city of residence and how you plan to celebrate your important event.