The space wedding of Yuri and Maria Malenchenko took place in outer space. They exchanged vows in space, and Yuri wore a formal flight suit to celebrate the special day. Ed Lu, the couple’s best man, performed a proxy ceremony from Houston. The wedding was classified as a private family conference and the transmission was considered “in the nature of a private family conference.” The couple’s children were present, and they blew kisses as the priest played “Wedding March” by Mendelssohn.
The cost of such a space wedding varies depending on the number of guests and the location of the ceremony. The cost of the wedding is 240 million yen ($2.2 million). The ceremony is conducted at an altitude of 62.1 miles or 100 kilometers. The price includes a photo album from the flight. The Japanese firm has begun taking reservations for space weddings. The ceremony is set to take place 100 kilometers above the Earth’s surface, and two more people and the priest will be able to attend.
The ceremony itself took place through a satellite video link. The bride, Ekaterina Dmitrieva, was in Texas while her husband, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, was in the International Space Station. Yuri wore a bow tie to mark the occasion. While only one half of the couple was actually in orbit, the effects of the first space wedding were felt years later. Ekaterina Dmitriev and Yuri Malenchenko’s first space wedding was a milestone in the history of humankind.
While a space wedding isn’t yet possible in the United States, the concept has caught on and the space industry has experienced a boom. A space balloon will carry a couple up to eight people up to 100,000 feet, twice as high as a commercial plane cruises. There are several other factors to consider, including whether or not the space-wedding ceremony is possible in the United States. But whatever the case, a space wedding is definitely the future.
In the Russian space program, a cosmonaut and his future wife had to go through a series of hurdles. The Russian Aerospace Agency tried to stop the wedding but Malenchenko refused and got married on July 17. They did have to wait until the mission was over because there were Soviet-era rules prohibiting marriages between military officers and foreigners. Nevertheless, the Russian officials approved the marriage, and the couple exchanged vows in Houston.
If you can’t afford a full-fledged wedding in a rented space, you can still plan a low-cost wedding in a raw space. Raw spaces are often more economical than traditional wedding venues and can reflect a couple’s personalities. The rawness of the space can enhance the intimate feel of a wedding, and they’re an excellent option for those who don’t want to pay for a designer.