A wedding is a big event and people leave no stone unturned to make it memorable. From the Alia-Ranbir wedding to the Ambani weddings, we’ve seen everything from awe-inspiring locations to extravagant events. But what if you could get married in space? Well, thanks to a new company that dream is now a reality. A startup called Space Perspective is planning to send lovebirds into orbit in a carbon-neutral balloon equipped with enormous windows for the ultimate view of our third rock from above. The flight will last six hours and the cost is $125,000 per seat, according to the company’s website.
The first ever space wedding took place on August 10, 2003, when American Ekaterina Dmitrieva married Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko from the International Space Station via video link. She wore a white dress and he wore his standard astronaut uniform and bow tie, although the ceremony was officially categorized as a private family conference and not broadcast publicly on NASA TV. She marched down the aisle to David Bowie’s “Absolute Beginners” (her best man, a fellow astronaut, played the music on his keyboard aboard the station), and blew kisses to him over the link.
During his career, Malenchenko went on five missions and spent more than two years in space, including three stints at the ISS. He’s currently number two on the list of cosmonauts who have spent the most time in orbit, and is the holder of Russia’s highest honor, the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. But the space wedding had some repercussions – most notably, it got him kicked out of the cosmonaut corps and barred from future space missions.
In 2019, the consequences of the wedding caught up with him again when he was denied a promotion to the head of the Cosmonaut Training Center, which oversees cosmonauts and the development of rockets and space equipment. This was apparently because the wedding violated a rule that says astronauts must be single to work in space.
Despite the risks, some believe the idea of getting married in space is worth it. In fact, one entrepreneur wants to make it easier for couples to say “I do” beyond Earth. He’s started a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for the project, which aims to provide weddings in space to “ordinary citizens.”
If you’re aiming for an out-of-this-world ceremony, it may be helpful to hire a professional planner who has experience with Raw Spaces. These are non-traditional venues such as museums, art centers/theatres, town buildings and parks that don’t have the amenities of a hotel or banquet hall. The venue rents out the space but the couple has to bring in everything else, from tables and chairs to flatware and china.
If you’re ready to start planning your own space wedding, the company’s website is taking reservations now for late 2024. But you’ll probably need to rethink your wedding budget: Tickets are $125,000 per person. For more information, check out Business Insider.