Weightless Wedding
I do.
by G B Leatherwood
Theme weddings usually come with a hefty price tag, and the wedding of Noah Fulmor and Erin Finnegan was no different. Their 20 June 2009 wedding cost $60,000 in rental space alone. But Fulmor and Finnegan married on the modified Boeing
727-200 aircraft flown by the Zero Gravity Corporation, exchanging vows while making history. “It’s amazing how resourceful you can be when you put your mind to it,” said Fulmor on the Today Show.
Flying high above the clouds on 20 June 2009, Noah Fulmor and Erin Finnegan said their “I dos” while flipping and floating in mid-air among their closest family and friends.
Richard Garriott, the sixth private explorer in history to go to space and the first second-generation astronaut, officiated the ceremony. Although there is no mention anywhere that Garriott is a minister, perhaps in space it’s not a requirement.
In the meantime, the couple has made the most of the publicity. The couple has their own web site, ZeroGravityWedding.com with clips of the wedding, plus links to articles about the event. One headline put it this way: “Hipster Nerds To have Zero Gravity Wedding.” About this, Finnegan wrote, “Someone sure has our number!”
Fulmor and Finnegan have always wanted to go to space; Erin attended space camp, and Noah worked at his local planetarium. But rather than delay their nuptials until they could afford the real deal, they opted to marry in microgravity.
According to the Zero-G Corps press release, “During the ceremony, Finnegan will be wearing a zero-gravity wedding dress designed by Eri Matsui, a Japanese haute couture designer. The dress was created for the Space Couture Design Contest in 2006 and featured during New York Fashion Week in 2009. Last month, Finnegan spent several weeks in Japan for fittings while the dress was being custom made. She will be the first person to wear the dress in zero-gravity conditions, “something that causes my parents no small amount of anxiety,” she said. Not to be left out, the Groom is having a specially designed tuxedo fabricated by J. Lucas Clothiers, with tails crafted specifically to take advantage of the zero gravity conditions. Additionally, the couple’s rings will be designed by jeweler Chris Ploof, incorporating pieces of the Gibeon Meteorite and provided by Stuart Moore.”
As it turns out, ring designer Ploof had already taken a zero-g flight.
727-200 aircraft flown by the Zero Gravity Corporation, exchanging vows while making history. “It’s amazing how resourceful you can be when you put your mind to it,” said Fulmor on the Today Show. Flying high above the clouds on 20 June 2009, Noah Fulmor and Erin Finnegan said their “I dos” while flipping and floating in mid-air among their closest family and friends.
Richard Garriott, the sixth private explorer in history to go to space and the first second-generation astronaut, officiated the ceremony. Although there is no mention anywhere that Garriott is a minister, perhaps in space it’s not a requirement.
In the meantime, the couple has made the most of the publicity. The couple has their own web site, ZeroGravityWedding.com with clips of the wedding, plus links to articles about the event. One headline put it this way: “Hipster Nerds To have Zero Gravity Wedding.” About this, Finnegan wrote, “Someone sure has our number!”
Fulmor and Finnegan have always wanted to go to space; Erin attended space camp, and Noah worked at his local planetarium. But rather than delay their nuptials until they could afford the real deal, they opted to marry in microgravity.
According to the Zero-G Corps press release, “During the ceremony, Finnegan will be wearing a zero-gravity wedding dress designed by Eri Matsui, a Japanese haute couture designer. The dress was created for the Space Couture Design Contest in 2006 and featured during New York Fashion Week in 2009. Last month, Finnegan spent several weeks in Japan for fittings while the dress was being custom made. She will be the first person to wear the dress in zero-gravity conditions, “something that causes my parents no small amount of anxiety,” she said. Not to be left out, the Groom is having a specially designed tuxedo fabricated by J. Lucas Clothiers, with tails crafted specifically to take advantage of the zero gravity conditions. Additionally, the couple’s rings will be designed by jeweler Chris Ploof, incorporating pieces of the Gibeon Meteorite and provided by Stuart Moore.”
As it turns out, ring designer Ploof had already taken a zero-g flight.
