Local couple married on Zoom and officiated by district judge

Judge David Stith clicks around on his laptop and opens the Zoom video conferencing app in his courtroom.

Nina and Mario Olivarez are waiting on the other end, white and gold balloons in the background. Nina, wearing a white, lace dress, says hello to the judge as he prepares to officiate their Zoom wedding.

Stith transitioned from having in-person weddings at the courthouse to officiating online using Zoom because of the coronavirus. This is his second online wedding.

"I thought, man instead of canceling your wedding," Stith says, "this is a way for people to still be together and to have that special day." 

Nina clicks on her laptop as all their wedding guests are moved from Zoom's "waiting room" to the video conference. About 40 attendees, including friends and family, pop up in the video call, one guest tuning in from Germany. 

"Everyone's health is more important to us than having everyone together," Mario says. "So we decided to postpone our big reception and ceremony until August." 

Stith begins the ceremony while Nina and Mario exchange their vows. 

"It was important (to have the Zoom wedding) because we didn't want to wait any longer to start our journey together," Mario says. 

Stith states "on behalf of the state of Texas," he now announces them as husband and wife. The couple kisses and the judge announces the new Mr. and Mrs. Olivarez. 

"I feel honored to get to be part of people's wedding," Stith says.