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"I want to look back 20 years from now and celebrate... Not because of coronavirus but because I decided to spend the rest of my life with Reme."

Ayokunle Sulaiman and his fiancée Reme Olotun were counting down to their wedding ceremony at the Sheraton Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria, on 18 April.

But as the pandemic intensified it became obvious that Reme, who lives and works in Canada, would not be able to come back home to Nigeria to marry Ayokunle.

"It was very devastating for me," she tells the BBC. "I had already bought my dress, my shoes, everything was ready and in place."

But for his part, the thought of postponing the wedding was not something Ayokunle would entertain. So he thought of a creative way to go ahead.

Finally, the couple decided to have a religious ceremony on 18 April led by a pastor via the video platform Zoom.

"It moved from feeling sad and gloomy to feeling hopeful, positive and upset and optimistic about the situation," says Reme.

"You seem to have that magic wand to always warm hearts," she remembers telling her husband that day.

Are online weddings legally valid?

In Nigeria, there's no legal provision for online marriage.

The country's Marriage Act states that couples have two options - a statutory wedding in a registry office, or a religious ceremony in a licensed place of worship.

But because of ongoing lockdown restrictions on gatherings, legal practitioner Abisola Ogunbadejo says people planning weddings have been asking her about the validity of online ceremonies.

She decided to film a YouTube video providing advice.

Ms Ogunbadejo says that although an online religious ceremony may feel enough for some, it is important to follow up with a legal marriage as soon as possible so that you are covered if issues over assets and custody arise in the future.