The COVID-19 pandemic may have changed the world, but it won’t stop love. A Cape Town couple proved just that when they tied the knot this past weekend amid the nationwide lockdown, by having a ‘drive-by wedding’.

Tanweer and Aqeelah Regal from Surrey Estate met about 6-7 years ago through relatives. Tanweer wanted a relationship but Aqeelah was focused on her sports and academics, so they remained friends until 2016.

The couple then dated for four years and became engaged in November 2019. Originally, they had planned to marry on June 21 and book a hall that could host their guest list of 750 people. Aqeelah tells Wedding ETC that the lockdown caused her quite a bit of stress.

“I had about 10 girls to be bridesmaids and flower girls etc, we had family coming down from Dubai to be a part of our day. Once we heard lockdown was happening, I panicked because things were halfway sorted for the 21st already.”

The couple are Muslim, and their religion states that weddings may be brought forward but cannot be postponed. As such, they kept their original date but massively scaled back. The 10 flower girls were reduced to one, there were no bridesmaids, and they cancelled the hall.

They had originally planned to just have their parents and siblings in attendance, but friends and family were not happy that they would only witness the wedding through pictures.

“Family and friends started messaging us saying they wouldn’t settle for pictures, that’s where the drive-by wedding idea came in. They wanted to see us, so my husband suggested okay let’d do the drive-by and when they pass by we will give them a punnet of food, as a thank you.”

This is exactly what they did. Hundreds of cars slowly drove by their home on June 21, as their family and friends hooted and cheered in celebration of the couple’s big day. The couple took many measures to ensure a safe day, such as screening and sanitising their guests.

Aqeelah tells Wedding ETC that her favourite part of their wedding day was when they had the nikkah. “It was hearing my husband recite his prayer of becoming my husband and then seeing him for the first time after a week. It’s like we fell in love all over again,” she said.