My first space wedding was a real sweet deal. Everything went just like it was supposed to go and we got married in complete style. I think I may have been a little nervous about getting married in outer space but, once everything was set up, I was quite happy. We had our video link up to our ceremony website, so all we had to do was click and our beautiful ceremony took place right from the launch pad. This is how we planned our wedding and I hope that my story inspires you as it did ours.
We chose to wed in space because our officiant, being an astronaut, felt it would be a fitting tribute to our hero, Buzz Aldrin. Also, having spent three busy weeks planning the most memorable event of my life, I felt that this would be a great way to remember both our guests and myself. Our ceremony was nothing like a conventional wedding ceremony. There really were no rules to follow and since there were no witnesses, we had a free hand when it came to our choice of music and our attire for the wedding ceremony itself.
The only rule that we actually followed was that we were not to be seen on the day of our wedding. We took a cue from the international space station where they broadcast a live feed of the ceremony so everyone could see us. Our ceremony was actually set up on the launch pad exactly where the Soyuz became the very first ever manned spaceflight. We were married in space, under the stars, on the very first artificialmoon and everything went very smoothly. I think the only words we used to wish the couple well on their journey into space and beyond were a few brief comments in Russian, but our priest carried a small copy of our wedding invitation for our guests to use if they wished to send us a response.
The only problem we encountered with our first space wedding was the inability to find a matching wedding dress. Because our capsule was only about 100 kilometers in length, all the available dresses fit the capsule and would have been too heavy for us to pull off. Thankfully, we found an online retailer who sells costumes that are the right size for our small wedding dress. The bride wore a white gown with red accents and the groom wore a black suit with white accents and matching socks.
On the very first day of our space wedding, we were also able to meet our cosmonaut trainer, Andrei Kravikov. He introduced us to a little girl who was supposed to take part in the cosmonaut exercise and be the first ever woman to do so. Of course, none of us had heard of this girl, so when the ceremony began she was understandably nervous. It took all of three tries before the girl got through her first rehearsal, which is quite the feat for a Russian woman who has never even gone to space!
Fortunately, she passed all of the medical and physical tests and was accepted into the cosmonaut training program just a few days ahead of our wedding march. We had our wedding march rehearsal several days later, during which time we made a video link from our ceremony to the Russian cosmonaut training center. That video link went viral almost immediately and now there are many copies being distributed all over the world among our many friends and followers. We were overwhelmed by the response and look forward to more cosmonaut weddings in future years!