Taco Bell Gives Couple a Unique 'Metaverse' Wedding Ceremony

A San Francisco-based couple had a one of a kind wedding after winning the fast food chain's competition. The wedding was held in Decentraland. 

Taco Bell threw a literal out of this world wedding for couple Sheel Mohnot and Amruta Godbole last February 24. It was the very first legal wedding in the metaverse. 

The wedding ceremony happened at Decentraland, a 3D virtual world browser-based platform. 

"This is a real wedding with a real couple, a real officiant, in an unreal Taco Bell Metaverse venue. At the Taco Bell Metaverse Wedding you'll get the chance to participate in an experience that includes a one-of-a-kind venue, unique wearables, a DJ, live dancefloor, and a few tasty Taco Bell surprises," stated the couple's wedding invitation published in Decentraland's website. 

The couple won Taco Bell's competition

Godbole told People in an exclusive interview that she promised her now husband a marriage life that is fun, romantic and "more than a little weird," exactly like how their wedding went in the metaverse. 

The couple admitted that it was never on their plan to have a wedding in the metaverse nor in Taco Bell, yet after the latter announced a competition offering couples a chance to win a wedding in the virtual realm, they decided to join, especially since the groom is a big Taco Bell fan. 

Mohnot shared how a lot of people tagged him on Twitter, pushing him to participate in the competition. Fortunately, the bride was game and so they went to a Taco Bell branch, shot their video, which was done in two takes, and submitted it without expecting they would win from out of 300 other couples that joined. 

The couple stated that they had mixed emotions when they found out they won. They even asked each other if they really want a wedding that will be held in Decentraland. 

The Taco Bell team encouraged them, assuring them that their inputs will be respected as it is their wedding in the first place. They were eventually convinced and Taco Bell, they said, truly "delivered." 

More than the wedding being unique in so many different ways and levels, it was really special for Mohnot whose memories of Taco Bell go way back since childhood. Thus, it made the wedding a "full-circle moment," especially that he got to ride an elephant to their wedding venue in a customary baraat procession, to pay homage to the couple's Indian roots. 

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A wedding celebrated both in the real and virtual worlds

According to PR Newswire, the wedding pushed "past previous platform limitations with never before seen elements" that Decentraland users can view for a limited time even when the wedding is over.  

It was reported that after the couple said their "I dos," a kissing emote in the metaverse unveiled, which was specially designed for the occasion. Moreover, since Taco Bell was the wedding host, guests witnessed the largest virtual Cinnabon Delights® cake that the brand has ever made. 

As for the Master of Ceremonies, American actor Kal Penn, who is of Indian heritage like the couple,  facilitated the wedding. 

After the metaverse wedding, a real life, physical reception happened at Taco Bell's ocean-front Pacifica Cantina in San Francisco, where family and friends gathered and celebrated the newlywed with loads of food, from Mexican pizza, Dorito Loco tacos, chalupas, black bean chalupas to a three-tiered Cinnabon Delight cake.

Mohnot shared that even with the physical gathering, Taco Bell allowed them to make it as their own. They played games and had trivia contests. They were so happy because the Taco Bell branch where they had their reception was "really beautiful." It did not feel like a fast food restaurant, the groom expressed. 

The couple got some criticisms about having their wedding in the metaverse, yet they have shrugged them off because the reality was they, and their friends and those who were able to watch their special day, felt that the ceremony was "fun and loving." Most of all, they were able to do what could have been impossible to do elsewhere. 

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