If you’re the type of person who dreams about tying the knot with your partner in the star-studded sky, a space wedding might seem like the perfect fit. A company called Space Perspective plans to send lovebirds into orbit aboard a carbon-neutral balloon equipped with enormous windows to take in the view of Earth from 100,000 feet up. If you have a willing partner and pockets deep enough to make it happen, the company says you can reserve seats aboard its vessel, the Neptune, for a six-hour flight beginning in 2024.
The first space wedding took place in 2003, when Ekaterina Dmitrieva and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko tied the knot via satellite video link. She was at NASA headquarters in Houston wearing a white dress, while he was on the International Space Station. He was sporting a bow tie added to his standard uniform and the ring of his future bride, which had been delivered there in a special parcel on a Progress cargo spacecraft earlier that day. It was a one-of-a-kind ceremony — and also the very reason that the contracts cosmonauts sign before their missions include a ban on getting married while in orbit.
More recently, a woman named Traci Gagnon celebrated her Labor Day weekend wedding in the cloud with a virtual ceremony staged by Virbela, a company that builds virtual environments for work, learning and events. Ms. Gagnon hired two videographers, including one to capture the in-person event and simulcast it for those unable to attend, so that her maid of honor could walk her down the aisle and a friend with pre-existing health conditions could deliver a toast. Even 7-year-old twin avatars served as the ring bearer and flower girl.
It’s impossible to say how a metaverse wedding will change the traditional ceremony. But, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, technology is being incorporated into ceremonies more than ever before. Couples can now marry by videoconference — a practice that many states allowed during the pandemic shutdown — and last year, a couple whose in-person wedding was canceled because of the virus staged a virtual (and non-legal) ceremony within Animal Crossing, a popular video game.
And though the Metaverse Wedding may not be quite ready for the mass market, companies like Virbela are working on ways to bring the experience to consumers in their living rooms. And, in the meantime, there are raw spaces available that are less expensive than a spaceship and more familiar to today’s savvy brides. But even those come with a whole host of planning details that would likely need to be addressed, such as portable potties. And, of course, you have to be able to afford a price tag that can run into the millions. For more weather, science, space and COVID-19 updates on the go, download the New York Times Audio App (available for iPhone and Android users).