If you’re planning a wedding, you may have already had an idea in mind of how it will look and feel. Maybe you’ll have an industrial warehouse wedding or a rustic barn bash. But if you’ve always dreamed of marrying in space, there might be a way to make your dreams come true.
A company based in Florida called Space Perspective is selling the chance to tie the knot on the edge of space. The six-hour Spaceship Neptune flight is designed to carry up to eight passengers and one pilot in comfortable, reclining seats. The price tag is $125,000 per seat.
The company aims to help you create an event that will leave a lasting impression on guests, according to its website. It offers a number of packages to suit the needs and budget of your event, from a full-capsule experience to individual modules that can be used for different purposes. It even has a custom-built kitchen to provide you with all the food and drinks you’ll need.
As for the ceremony, the company says you can customize it as much as you want. It will provide you with a script to choose from, and you can stream videos from the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers to inspire you. The couple will have to take care of two familiar aspects of any wedding, though: the Invocation and the Vows.
The first space wedding took place 16 years ago when Ekaterina Dmitrieva married Yuri Malenchenko while he was orbiting in the International Space Station. She wore a traditional white wedding dress, and the groom — who was 402 miles above Earth in New Zealand — wore his standard flight uniform with a bow tie for the occasion. The ceremony was transmitted over a video link and was officially classified as a private family conference, which is why it wasn’t broadcast on NASA TV. The bride marched down the aisle to David Bowie’s “Absolute Beginners” and blew her husband a kiss, and he responded with a similar gesture.
After the ceremony, he spent two more missions aboard the ISS before returning to Earth. He’s now a Russian hero and holds the record for most time spent in space by a male astronaut, but it was his space wedding that made him famous. The wedding’s impact was so significant that contracts that cosmonauts sign before space missions now include a clause banning them from having a marriage ceremony in orbit.
If you’re ready to take off in your own marriage, the next step is to find the right venue for you. There are plenty of raw spaces that can be transformed into a wedding-worthy venue. You can also go the DIY route by using a kit from companies like Wed In Space to get started. However, you should keep in mind that the cost of a DIY wedding can be prohibitive. You should carefully weigh your options and decide whether or not to spend the money on a unique wedding venue.