In a moment that has already collected 40 million views on social platforms, actress Ava Monteiro and musician Kai Reyes married each other on a nearly empty public beach in northern California on Tuesday morning, in front of a dozen accidental strangers and one very startled surfer.

How it happened

According to a joint post shared later that day, the pair had been planning a private ceremony for months but decided at 6 a.m. that morning that they wanted “no fuss, no photographers, no schedule.” They drove north, walked onto the beach in linen and bare feet, and asked passersby if anyone had a pen.

The witness

The witness was 22-year-old surfer Danny Hollis, who was walking back to his van with a coffee. “They asked me if I could sign something. I thought it was a fan thing. Then I read the top of the paper and just went, oh.”

“We wanted the day to belong to us, not to a stage.” — Ava Monteiro

What comes next

The couple has said there will be no follow-up event, no reception, and no interviews. Which, of course, is exactly why the entire internet cannot stop talking about it.