Covid 19 coronavirus: Two best friends get 'married' to bypass coronavirus restrictions for formal after-party

Two friends "got married" so they could throw a party to get around restrictions. Photo / 123rf

Two private school boys had their fake wedding plans spoiled when their parents found out they were trying to bypass coronavirus restrictions to hold a 150-person party.

The teenagers from the prestigious Sydney Grammar School held a commitment ceremony at a mansion on Sydney's Lower North Shore.

But after photos of the pair posing with their certificate were shared online, the parents of one of the students rushed home to stop the massive formal after-party they had planned.

The students hatched the idea after they realised under current NSW restrictions you can have 150 people attend a wedding providing guests follow the 4sq m social distancing rules and if an official exemption is granted from NSW Health.

General gatherings held inside must have less than 20 people and outside events less than 30.

Photos of the ceremony on November 12, during the HSC exam period, went viral, prompting the intervention from their furious parents, who were away at the time.

"Clearly, this was a silly teenage idea," the father of one of the boys said in a statement to The Daily Telegraph.

"However, no legally binding ceremony took place and we shut down the planned private celebratory event as soon as we found out about it and, thankfully, nobody was put at risk.

"Furthermore, we immediately engaged a security firm to ensure that if anyone tried to attend, they would be turned away – and no one did actually turn up."

He said the family was "fully aware of the extremely high level of importance of complying with all aspects of the coronavirus restrictions".

"Our son has apologised to our family, as well as to the other families who were involved, and we have made it clear to him how important compliance with the coronavirus restrictions is," the dad said.

A friend of the boys said the plan would go down as a "great story".

He said the address of the party got leaked after the first social media post, foiling the plan.

"They were like, 'The only way we can do this is by getting a marriage exemption' so these two best friends got married," he said.

"And it all worked out except one of their parents didn't know, they found out through the social media post, cancelled their holiday, came back and the after-party didn't eventuate."