Bride's visa issue forces couple to FaceTime into Malibu wedding

MALIBU, Calif. (FOX 11) - A bride and groom could only dream of the kind of destination wedding Keiko and Kotaro planned.

Nearly all 50 of their loved ones flew in from all over the world.

The venue .... perched high above a Cielo Farms winery in Malibu.

The smallest details planned for a year...were now coming to life.

"We were really detained with choosing their florals. They wanted bright colors, they wanted to incorporate citrus because that's what reminds them of California," said their wedding planner Star Hansen.

Almost everything was in place.

Just one thing was missing:

A couple of VIP guests .... couldn't make it: the bride and groom.

"We're in Japan, because we're stuck here...our guests have flown in from Singapore Europe Japan just to celebrate our wedding," said Keiko, decked out in her wedding gown, attending her wedding virtually with the help of a large screen and FaceTime.

The bride is Japanese.

Keiko was in L.A. a few months ago to plan her big day

But when she tried to return for her wedding, airport authorities in Tokyo wouldn't let Keiko board because she did not have the right visa.

"We got some incorrect information and guidance that we didn't know until the day we were coming to the U.S.," said Keiko.

Their guests were already on their way to America, so the couple decided their dream wedding would go on.

All their wedding rituals were done virtually from Tokyo.

It still felt like they were always in the room....and they kind of were.

Guests took pictures with their life size cardboard cut-outs.

Now....the groom did *not* have visa problems. But Kotaro considered it his *duty* to stay with his fiance.

He is a U.S. citizen.

In fact...he serves our country as a marine staff sgt in Yuma, Arizona.

He's now fighting to bring his bride here for good, where they hope to settle down along with yet another star guest who couldn't make the wedding.