Gay Porn Stars Jack Vidra and Cain Marko Got Married in Quarantine

The wedding wasn't important. For Cain Marko, the ceremonial wedding with all of its pomp and circumstance wasn't as important as actually being married.

"He had told me one day, 'I want to be married to you more than I want to get married,'" fellow gay porn performer and now husband to Marko, Jack Vidra tells Out over the phone. "The wedding is not that important to me, but I want to be married to you," Marko had said. So Saturday, with only five people present in Vidra's apartment and about 100 watching on a livestream, the pair exchanged vows, did a handfasting ceremony, drank champagne, and cut the cake they had ideated, all while under the ongoing quarantine.

Social distancing and quarantine guidelines have meant that the wedding industry had all but ground to a halt. As government agencies have temporarily closed, a few lucky couples have rushed out to do last-minute paperwork before doing a more formal ceremony where they can. One lesbian couple got married in a heart-warming, but social distanced, display on a New York City sidewalk. Vidra and Marko chose Vidra's apartment, where they had a view of the lakefront Bird Sanctuary they originally intended to have the ceremony at.

"We've actually known of each other for a couple of years," Vidra says. The pair were ships passing in the night, seeing each other on social media and apps. Two years ago when Marko visited Chicago, where they both now live, they exchanged a few messages online before falling out of touch. They would run into each other again in Atlanta for the same thing to happen there.

"We've only really technically known each other since last summer but it's, it's moved so quickly," Vidra says. Last July, Marko moved to Chicago permanently, and the two finally began to hang out. "We learned so many important things about each other so fast because we were both, at the time, in the process of ending things with other people and being able to confide in each other about what, specifically, to ask for in relationships and what was really important to us. That really taught both of us about the content of each other's character." It became pretty clear that not only was there a physical attraction but that there was a mutual respect and interest in the way each processed emotions and treated others. A photoshoot in October is where they both realized that this was more than just interest.

"It was just a really awesome day, and every single photo from that day is just incredible," Vidra says on the shoot which happened at the lakefront bird sanctuary outside of his apartment which is currently closed due to social distancing. The photographer for the shoot was Rob of Bulldawg Studio

. "You can just kind of feel the chemistry just, it was just amazing. We looked back on it and we were both, you know, kind of dancing around the issue saying that it was a very special day. He told me 'one day I'll tell you what was going through my mind that day.' And that was also the day that I realized I loved him.

"Then he told me months later, he was like, 'That day I looked at you and I knew I wanted to marry you,'" Vidra continues. "That was technically the day that we both fell in love with each other. It just took an evolution of us being really careful just because we were kind of used to people being very disappointing and we just were continually surprised by each other."

In pretty short order, the two were officially dating by January. That same month, in a sentimental gesture, when Marko had to travel for a trip alone over the span of a few days, Vidra, who was once a sergeant in the Marines and is a veteran of the Iraq war, gave Marko his dog tags to wear while they were apart. In mid-February, they took a four-day trip to Turks and Caicos. On their return, they returned to their respective apartments, which are only about 10 minutes away from one another.

"We were just cuddling in my bed and I asked him if he would marry me and he made this adorable expression," Marko says. "He said yes and it was kind of a spur of the moment thing so I grabbed one of the rings I have and put it on his hand -- my fingers are much bigger than his so it didn't really fit." Still, Vidra wore the oversized copper ring, which Marko had bought from a vintage shop in Portland, Oregon, until the pair could go pick out a set together.

The decision to forgo a long engagement was similarly spontaneous. With the courts in the city of Chicago closed, the pair impulsively rented a car and drove to the Cook County suburbs and got their paperwork done in Rolling Meadows. During the trip, they also visited Marko's family home.

"There was a certain level of uncertainty," Vidra says. "Initially, the quarantine was going to be over in April, then mid-April. Now it's the end of April, but if you look at the news they're saying we might need to do this for the next 18 months, so who knows when we are going to get back to normal." So, the two decided, the time was now.

With a grand total of five people in the room (an officiant, two friends as witnesses, and the couple) the two made things official. One of the witnesses, who lives in Vidra's building, also cuts the pair's hair, which is the reason they had fresh haircuts for the event. Photos were also taken by a friend as a favor. In lieu of taking off and putting back on their rings, they did a ceremonial handfasting, finishing their knot in the infinity symbol. They encouraged friends and family watching online to also drink champagne in celebration.

The night before the ceremony, the pair made their own wedding cake -- partially impacted by bingeing Nailed It -- which they cut and did the traditional swapping of bites with. The gluten-free creation -- Marko is celiac -- was a honey spice cake with a buttercream frosting and honey fondant, made into an abstract dragon egg.

"There was no particular reason for the dragon scales," Vidra, who is also a chef, says. "I just kind of liked that direction."

While the two initially planned to possibly vacation in Iceland for their honeymoon, due to social distancing they are likely to just get up to more TV bingeing. Currently, Love Death + Robots on Netflix is the show of choice.

And as for tiring of each other because of the quarantine? They both plan to keep their leases of their own, individual apartments at least until the end of the year.

"We're going to take this long transitional time to really grow to care about each other before we move in together," Vidra says. Sounds like the smart choice.