With the COVID-19 pandemic having the potential to turn the annual camp-out by loving couples looking to tie the knot into a superspreader event, Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough is holding a lottery to figure out who will get the coveted first marriage license of 2021.

In a pre-pandemic Chicago, people would line up to obtain the first marriage license of the year, Yarbrough would marry them in early January and local businesses would donate gifts as story-hungry TV crews looked on. But this year, that won’t work because of spiking cases of the deadly disease.

“This year, due to COVID-19, Yarbrough is announcing a lottery drawing for the first license, accompanied by a Zoom wedding and special COVID-conscious gifts for the newlyweds from some of Chicagoland’s signature establishments,” Yarbrough’s office said in a news release.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued an executive order in May allowing couples the right to apply for marriage licenses online and to be married via videoconference in the wake of COVID-19.

“The pandemic has altered our courses in so many different ways, but the special institution of marriage and the first nuptials of the year must go on,” Yarbrough said in a statement. “We are thrilled to be carrying on this tradition in a safe and exciting way.”

Applications are being accepted online and interested couples can apply for their chance to win the first license at www.cookcountyclerk.com/firstmarriage.

Applications must be received by Tuesday, Dec. 29, and the drawing for the first marriage license of 2021 will be held Dec. 30. The Zoom wedding ceremony will take place Monday, Jan. 4, the first day of official business in Cook County in 2021.