As if the Alia-Ranbir and Ambani weddings weren’t grand enough, this space travel company wants you to get married on an out of this world planet. It has a waiting list already light-years long, but the company says the experience of getting married in orbit is a once-in-a-lifetime event that should be on every couple’s bucket list.
Space Perspective’s mission is a carbon-neutral one. It uses a balloon that is powered by renewable hydrogen and not rocket fuel, so it doesn’t have the same carbon footprint as a traditional rocket launch. The spaceship, called the Neptune, is equipped with “the largest windows flown into space” and can hold a few dozen guests for a six-hour event that offers a breathtaking view of Earth from above.
When a space wedding first happened, Ekaterina Dmitrieva and Yuri Malenchenko tied the knot via video linkup between NASA headquarters in Houston and the International Space Station in August 2003. She was in her white dress and he was wearing his standard flight uniform, which he topped with a bow tie for the occasion. The transmission was officially categorized as a private family conference and therefore not shown publicly on NASA TV. A few months later, when he returned to Earth, they had a religious ceremony in Yaroslavl, Russia.
Today, couples are looking for more ways to customize their wedding and make it less of a cookie cutter version of someone else’s big day. Many are exploring raw spaces like industrial warehouses, airport hangars and even a former brewery to give their wedding unique flair. Some of these venues come completely bare bones, however, so they can also be a DIYer’s dream and save on costs.
Similarly, some are getting married in the virtual realm by using 3D avatars to walk down the aisle and deliver toasts, much as they would in real life. It’s unclear how the metaverse will eventually change the way we do weddings, but it’s fun to imagine what a future with immersive virtual reality might look like.
Of course, some couples may choose to elope instead of have a full-on ceremony on the ground. If that sounds like you, check out this article by Francesca Street for CNN Travel. She has tips on finding inspiration and planning the logistics of a raw space wedding. You’ll need to bring in all the tables, chairs, flatware, china and decor yourself, but it’s a great way to keep your costs down. Just be sure to bring plenty of sunscreen for your wedding day! It will be a lot hotter in the cosmos than on Earth.