Ikea hosting virtual weddings, using webcams to paste people’s heads into ceremonies

Swedish site lets people get married in a computer-generated, Ikea-styled location

A still from the Wedding Online site's promotional video (Ikea)

Ikea is running virtual weddings for couples, who use their laptop’s webcam to be pasted into a ceremony attended by virtual cut-outs of their friends.

The company’s “Wedding Online” site — for now only available in Swedish” — sticks square pictures of people’s heads onto the bodies in the scene, letting them attend the wedding. It does the same to paste in the image of the bride, groom and the person officiating the ceremony.

Couples can choose from a variety of backgrounds, including a perfect beach with a light summer breeze, a boat or a magical forest. The site’s surprisingly touching promotional video points out that it allows you to get married in such locations while still being able to afford to invite all of your friends.

As well as the ceremony itself, the site has locations and set-ups that allow for speeches after the wedding.

It also integrates with Facebook, to allow people to post their congratulations.