New Yorkers return to the chapel to say 'I do'

New Yorkers return to the chapel to say 'I do'

Sae Feurtado and Richard Kissi's long wait to say "I do" finally ended on Friday, when in-person weddings resumed at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau after a 16-month shutdown.

Gloria Tso has more.

For many New Yorkers, love was in the air again on Friday as dozens of couples raced to the Manhattan Marriage Bureau to say "I do." After postponing their wedding for nearly two years due to the global health crisis, Sae Furtado and Richard Kissi became one of the first couples to wed in the pastel-colored bureau chapels after it reopened.

Clutching a bouquet of purple flowers and clad in a floral gown, Furtado said Friday they have waited long enough.

"And then they finally opened it up today.

So we're really excited.

It worked out, it was meant to happen today." Under new rules, the city clerk says couples must make a reservation, wear masks during the ceremony, and can only bring one witness, while a plexiglass sheet has been mounted on the officiant's podium.

Outside the building, George Taxi set up his flower stand, adorned with roses and trays of rings, for the first time since last March.

"Being around people who are happy, it's one of the happiest days of their lives, so to be a small part of that, it's great." A long line of celebrities like baseball legend Babe Ruth have tied the knot at the bureau, which was conducting virtual weddings before Friday.