Getting married in space is no ordinary affair. It can be a little challenging to navigate the rules and regulations involved, but it can also be a beautiful experience. Several companies are offering space weddings, and some of them have already opened the door to reservations.
Space Wedding People are one such company. They are a Tokyo-based wedding company that accepts reservations for space weddings. They offer a wide variety of services for weddings. They include live broadcasts of outer space events, and wedding ceremonies in space. They also offer videography services. For an additional fee, a video crew can capture the most memorable moments of your special day.
Ekaterina Dmitriev married Yuri Malenchenko in space via a video link. Dmitriev was in NASA’s headquarters in Houston, Texas, and Malenchenko was on the International Space Station. They had met at a party celebrating the first manned space flight. Malenchenko was an accomplished astronaut, and Ekaterina was a U.S. citizen of Russian descent. They both had been in the Russian Air Force, but had not yet renounced their citizenship.
The Russian Aerospace Agency was not convinced that a space wedding would be safe for the couple, so they tried to convince Malenchenko to postpone the ceremony. The Russian Mission Control Center did not have any luck getting in touch with the groom. The Russian Air Force argued that an active Russian officer should get permission from the government before he could marry a foreign woman in space. The Russian government eventually gave Malenchenko and Dmitriev the green light to have their ceremony in space.
Ekaterina Dmitriev wore a beautiful blue dress and an elegant wedding ring. She had been in space for a couple of years, and was now back on Earth. Her wedding ring had precious stones in gold. The ring was delivered to the ISS on a Progress cargo spacecraft.
The wedding reception was held in a reception hall that was designed to look like the space station. There were several space-themed decorations, including a giant fruit bowl. There was also a life-size cutout of the groom. The wedding ring was the same as Ekaterina’s. It was set in gold shapes.
The reception ended with a song from David Bowie. The bride and groom entered the hall to the song “Absolute Beginners”. Yuri Malenchenko blew a kiss to his bride, and then he blew a kiss to Ekaterina.
The Space Wedding was also the first to be broadcast on television. However, it was not broadcast on NASA television. Instead, it was classified as a private family conference. In addition to being the first space wedding, it was also the most expensive. It cost $125,000 to be married in space. This price is lower than the $250,000 90-minute space flight offered by Virgin Galactic.
The Space Wedding sparked interest in other companies that offer space weddings. Flight Advantage offers space weddings, and they expect interest from China and Arabian customers. The company’s website claims they will offer the first space wedding in 2011.