A fictional couple has celebrated not getting married in a ceremony that required considerably more organisation than their previous successful efforts not to get married.
Guests received a save-the-date, a reminder and instructions for the dress code, which was formal but emotionally uncommitted. Several asked whether declining the invitation would count as participating in the spirit of the event.
The couple exchanged promises to continue discussing the future without establishing a deadline. A registrar confirmed that the promises carried no legal force, unlike the venue's cancellation policy.
The gift list includes a non-toaster, an experience voucher neither partner will book and contributions towards a holiday already described as not a honeymoon for tax purposes that nobody has checked.
One guest welcomed the freedom from convention but questioned why it still involved a three-night hotel stay. She was informed that rejecting social expectations need not involve abandoning a seated dinner.
The couple's relatives are divided. Some admire the modern approach. Others had understood that there would at least be a certificate they could show to people who ask.
At the end of the evening, the newly non-married pair left through a shower of entirely conventional confetti. Guests have been promised a photograph once the couple agree which one most accurately represents the absence of a milestone.
