They aren’t going to the chapel.
COVID’s arrow has prompted couples to cancel their wedding plans in droves this year, city data shows.
Last year, from May through Sept. 10, the city issued 29,948 marriage licenses. During the same period this year, the number plunged 65 percent to 10,517.
In May alone, with the pandemic ravaging the city, licenses issued plummeted 88 percent, from 5,735 to 663.
Emily Johnson, 31, postponed her May 24 wedding in Manhattan until the same time next year.
“At first we toyed with rescheduling for fall or winter of 2020, but finding a date that worked for everyone then was a challenge,” the bummed-out bride-to-be told marthastewart.com. “Some information also suggested it may still be too risky to reschedule for then, particularly given that many of our guests will need to fly, and many are older.”
In June, once the most popular month for tying the knot, the number of licenses issued fell 70 percent, from 6,564 to 2,000.
In July and August, licenses dipped 57 percent. This month, through Sept. 10, the number of marriage licenses issued dropped 43 percent (2,153 to 1,222).
Before the city clerk’s office closed in March for the coronavirus pandemic, it issued daily about 200 licenses, which had to be obtained in person.
In April, Mayor de Blasio and the City Council formulated Project Cupid to set up a virtual appointment system for licenses.
In May, The Post reported a four-month wait to get an online appointment. The office has booked approximately 17,000 appointments after it began offering the virtual service, City Clerk Michael McSweeney said, adding, “We are now scheduled through October 16.”