Tired of killing time during a long layover? Why not get hitched? With soaring oil prices and fees for almost everything (from checking a bag to answering the call of Mother Nature), many travelers are saying "no way" to airport travel this summer. But some are saying, "I do," as the trend to get married in airport terminals around the world takes flight (yes, pun fully intended).
In a recent USA Today article, Harriet Baskas notes that couples tend to look for a wedding site that has a special significance, so for those couples who meet at an airport or on a plane, the terminal seems like a logical choice. One couple (the husband, a pilot) held an aviation-themed ceremony at Nampa Municipal Airport in Idaho. They "created wedding invitations resembling boarding passes and went to a local wine store to blend their own 'Plane Crazy Pinot.' Between the ceremony and the reception the newlyweds took a thirty-minute ride in the groom's Maule single-engine airplane and, at the end of the event, guests launched paper airplanes instead of throwing birdseed."
While the trend in the U.S. is growing (especially at LAX, where folks can get "California's 'confidential' marriage licenses, which are sealed from public access and review and do not require witnesses, California residency or a trip through LA traffic to city hall," according to USA Today), this quirky marriage trend is really taking off overseas. Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport has its own wedding planner, and over 500 couples got hitched at Stockholm-Arlanda Airport in Sweden, which offers both civil ceremonies and more traditional church ceremonies in the airport chapel. And after saying, "I do," couples hop right on their plane and head for their honeymoon.
Photo: Schiphol Airport weddings
Wow, who knew! Now I find it surprising that I've never witnessed a wedding in an airport ;)
Anne
Posted by: Prêt à Voyager | July 17, 2008 at 12:08 PM