Every bride dreams of walking down the aisle… but Pam (Patterson) Salda did it just a little bit differently.
Pam and her fiancé, Jeremy Salda, decided on the spur of the moment to get hitched in Las Vegas, Nevada. Dressed in their wedding attire, the couple boarded a plane in Oklahoma City and made it as far as their connection in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, when their plans hit a snag. Their connecting flight was canceled!
As they lamented their bad luck in the airport terminal, another passenger overheard them. Chris Mitcham, an ordained minister who was also on his way to Vegas, was happy to step in an offer his services.
They quickly got online and snagged the last three seats on a Southwest Air flight from Dallas Love Field Airport to Las Vegas. The only hitch was that the plane was leaving in less than an hour, and the airport was on the other side of a very large city!
“We get in an Uber and we tell him like, ‘Look, we’ve got to get to Love Field. Floor it,'” Pam explained. “And he did. He’s driving through the rain. It was awesome. We get there and we’re running through security, me in the dress. He’s pulling the bags. And we get up to the gate, like literally, as it’s about to start boarding.”
Their good fortune didn’t end there! When their pilot noticed Julie’s dress, they asked her about it.
“Pam explained their story and joked with Captain Gil they should just get married on the flight,” Southwest Airlines shared on Facebook.
For the second time that week, Pam was surprised to hear the words, “Let’s do it!”
The flight crew launched into preparations. Flight attendant Julie Reynolds stepped in as maid of honor, and someone started passing a notebook around the cabin to collect signatures for an impromptu guest book. Crew members strung toilet paper streamers and created a “snack mix sash.” Julie even thought to download Richard Wagner’s “Bridal Chorus” on her phone before taking off.
No one on board could stop grinning as Pam walked down the aisle to meet her groom. Julie said the event was a refreshing break from the rough few years they’ve endured during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We haven’t had fun on a plane in two years,” she said.
To top it all off, a fellow passenger who is a photographer grabbed her camera and captured beautiful pictures that the couple, and the entire Internet, will cherish forever.
“We were thrilled to play host to Pam and Jeremy’s special day,” Southwest Air stated. “Our Employees are famous for their Heart and Hospitality, and we know our Crew, our Customers, and the couple will remember this flight for a long time to come. We offer our congratulations to the newlyweds and well wishes on their new life together.”
What an absolute whirlwind! It seems like the universe conspired to make this wedding happen. How many people, after all, can say they got married mid-air, surrounded by kind strangers? Very special indeed.
Share this story to congratulate Pam and Jeremy on their mid-flight nuptuals!
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