Weddings are made in heaven. But last Friday saw an unconventional wedding ceremony being held in a modified Boeing 747 aircraft. Dilip Popley’s daughter Vidhi Popley wedded her high school sweetheart, Hridesh Sainani, while soaring through the skies.
In 1994, Dilip Popley married his wife, Sunita, in a big fat wedding aboard an Air India Airbus A310. This extraordinary mid-air ceremony, tagged Hawai Bandhan or ‘Wedding In The Air,’ created headlines since it marked the first-ever wedding on a flight. Departing from Mumbai and en route to Ahmedabad, the Airbus A310 witnessed the couple’s vows amidst the clouds. Celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor had then prepared the lavish meal, which added to the glamour.
Dilip recounted his wedding saying it was his father’s dream to conduct the son’s wedding mid-air. “My marriage in the air was my dad’s idea. It was my dad’s dream, who wanted to get his son married in the air. We met the chairman of Air India and had a wedding in the sky in 1994. Now I am carrying his dream to another level. I am hoping, for my son’s marriage, technology will allow us to do something bigger, such as marriage in Space.”
Vidhi and Hridesh were joined by about 350 guests, including family, close friends and the media. Vidhi wore a classic red lehenga adorned with heavy gold embroidery, while Hridesh sported an elegant cream-coloured sherwani. The guests, all dressed in colourful lehengas and stylish kurtas, exuded excitement and danced to lively Bollywood songs. The baaraat (wedding procession) arrived at the Jetex VIP terminal near Al Maktoum Airport in Dubai where the invitees posed with their boarding passes. The aircraft was modified with each section of the plane having a small projector.
During the ceremony, guests were treated to a slightly elevated version of a flight meal, which included the standard bread and butter, and vegetable jhalfrazi, mushroom pulao, palak paneer and dal masala.
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