Getting hitched at the drive-through

Tie the Knot: A company called I Do Drive Thru is offering a new kind of wedding to suit a COVID-19 world.

This bride looks a bit peeved.

Perhaps it's because she couldn't have a wedding with all the bells and whistles.

All she could have was a drive-through wedding. What's a drive-through wedding, you ask? We're glad you asked.

Back in the day, there was the shotgun wedding. But in the COVID-19 era, it's all about the drive-through wedding.

The folks that launched this new service came up with a catchy name for it. It's called, "I Do Drive Thru".

Sweet that, innit.

They're offering services in a bunch of places, including Newcastle. They suggest Strzelecki Lookout and Shepherds Hill Fort in Newcastle, along with Bombah Point in Myall Lakes National Park, as places to get married.

However, couples can get married at "any parking spot they feel would suit their own drive-up experience".

It works like this. The couple arrives at the designated location. Their celebrant meets the vehicle and a short ceremony is conducted while the couple remain inside the car.

Paperwork and certificates are passed in and out of the windows, rings are exchanged and back-seat smooching is highly encouraged.

Alternatively, there's the "reverse drive-through wedding" in which a celebrant comes to a couple's home and marries them in the driveway.

The new wedding service came about when a group of marriage celebrants were looking for a way to hold weddings in a COVID-19 world.

Under lifted restrictions in NSW from Friday, up to 10 people can attend a wedding.

I Do Drive Thru offers "car-based elopements", which support COVID-19 restrictions such as "social distancing and smaller numbers at weddings".

The business was established by four women. Instead of getting bored and turning to baking during the lockdown, these women put on their entrepreneurial hats.

Since launching in Victoria on April 8, the home-based business is expanding across Australia and worldwide, including in Las Vegas.

Founder Mel Jacob said there was "still every reason to commit to marriage".

"Even in a time of uncertainty, love still exists and people still need to celebrate."

"Imagine looking back on COVID 2020 with the fond memory of getting married in this unique way, then having the big celebration with family and friends to look forward to down the track."

The company noted that a recent study found the average Australian wedding costs $53,158 [crikey!]. I Do Drive Thru packages start from $400.

Don't Soldier On

Remember that ad, "Soldier on with Codral, soldier on".

How could we not remember it. It's embedded in our memory along with a million other jingles brainwashing us to buy stuff.

Anyhow, as it turns out, it's not such a great idea to soldier on. Those who soldier on tend to spread disease with the greatest of ease.

Peter Collignon, a professor of infectious diseases at Australian National University, says we shouldn't be soldiering on at all.

As well as the COVID-19 menace, all those other colds and flus that circulate are a reason not to soldier on.

"We need to change what we do. If we are sick, we need to stay home, not use public transport and not go shopping," Peter Collignon wrote in the SMH on Thursday.

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