The phrase “till death do us part” has taken on a new meaning as it pertains to weddings this year, with large celebrations in the wake of the pandemic being referred to as super-spreader events.

Such is the case for Cincinnati couple Anthony and Mikayla Bishop, whose Halloween wedding has resulted in nearly half of their attendees contracting the potentially deadly virus.

The pair tied the knot last month after five years of dating. Because of the pandemic, the couple says they cut their guest list down significantly. While they originally planned on having more than 200 attendees at their celebration, they trimmed their list of invitees down to just 85. According to the Bishops, 83 guests attended the ceremony and reception.

Weeks later, their wedded bliss has turned into a nuptial nightmare, with 32 guests testing positive and counting. This includes the newlyweds, and their grandparents. Two of their grandparents have had to visit the emergency department as a result of severe symptoms.

“Weddings are definitely scary right now. I didn’t think that almost half of our wedding guests were gonna get sick,” Mikayla Bishop told Cincinnati news station WLWT. “You’re in the moment. You’re having fun. You don’t think about COVID anymore.”

But, perhaps the couple should have been thinking about COVID, with the highly contagious virus experiencing a second surge in the country at the time of their celebration. While the couple did take some precautions, such as providing masks and sanitizer at the entrance of the ceremony, Mikayla says few guests took advantage of the protective measures.

“My big moment honestly was right when the ceremony started and the doors opened and both my parents walked me down the aisle. The first thing I see is I see everyone’s face. And that’s when I realized wow. Nobody’s wearing a mask,” she said. “I’m walking down the aisle. We can’t do anything now.”

Her groom, Anthony, had the same thought upon seeing the unmasked attendees.

“When I saw everyone not wearing masks I was just like, ‘Oh, well I guess we’re just gonna kinda go with it I guess,'” he said.

According to the Bishops, the situation didn’t improve when the celebration continued from the ceremony to the reception. Looking back, Mikayla says she wouldn’t be surprised to learn the majority of guests contracted the virus on the dance floor.

“That’s what was maybe the super spreader,” she said. “Everybody’s in each other’s face and there’s no masks.”

This, of course, is speculation since the pair acknowledges their grandparents wore masks the entire evening and did not dance. While the precise source of the spread cannot be pinpointed, the bride admitted having their loved ones become ill has put a damper on the event.

“Every single day we’re getting a call. Oh, here’s another person… here’s another person. It starts to take a toll on you,” she said.

The Bishops began feeling under the weather on their honeymoon, which was spent in a log cabin in North Carolina, where Anthony lost his sense of taste and smell and Mikayla couldn’t get off the couch.