No venue? No problem: Couple gets married on flight

DALLAS (KTVI) — An Oklahoma City couple on a quest to get married in Las Vegas ended up getting married on a commercial flight on their way there.

Pam Patterson and Jeremy Salda joked on April 19 that “they should hop on a plane to get married in Vegas,” according to a Southwest Airlines Facebook post. The couple then realized neither one of them was joking. So they booked a flight for Sunday with a Southwest Airlines competitor. Their Vegas wedding chapel appointment was booked for Sunday at 9 p.m.

When the lovebirds arrived at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport from the Will Rogers World Airport, they found out their connection to Harry Reid International Airport was canceled after several delays. A passenger and ordained minister by the name of Chris, who was also traveling from DFW to LAS, overheard the couple’s predicament and “offered to marry the couple himself” according to the post.

So Patterson, Salda and the minister purchased the last three seats to Las Vegas on a Southwest flight and took an Uber across town to get to Dallas Love Field Airport from DFW.

The couple was traveling in their wedding attire all day Sunday. So, when they “boarded the flight, their Pilot, Captain Gil, noticed Patterson’s wedding dress and asked her about it,” the Facebook post said. Then they joked with the captain that they should just tie the knot on the flight.

“For the second time that week, Pam was surprised to hear the words, ‘Let’s do it!'” according to the post.

The whole flight crew helped the couple. There were toilet paper streamers, a snack mix sash for the minister, and an old notebook was passed around the cabin for passengers to sign as a makeshift guest book. A flight attendant named Julie stood in as Patterson’s maid of honor. There was also a professional photographer on the flight who took out her camera to take official wedding photos.

The newlyweds appeared Sunday on “NewsNation Prime,” and it was clear that love is still in the air for the happy couple.

Jeremy Salda said he knew Pam was the lady for him on their first date.

“When I was walking up to meet her for the first time, I had a thought, I was about to say something, and she said the exact same thing I was thinking,” Jeremy Salda said. “I just started laughing and within 30 minutes of our conversation, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.”

Pam added that she couldn’t be happier the passengers took part in their love story.

“You know, it felt so strange but so right. It was just easy and normal. Neither of us were nervous. It just felt like, well, this is how we’re going to do this, let’s do it. It was so sweet and wonderful and everybody shared in it and was so happy. I think seeing all the passengers, their happiness, it made us happier. It was such a wonderful and fun time,” she said.

Southwest congratulated the newlyweds and said it’s a flight their passengers will likely never forget.