Atlanta

Airlines host weddings at airport, on flights, at Delta museum

ATLANTA — While some people dread the thought of heading to the airport and sitting on a crowded flight, others love it so much they get married on an airplane.

Or they exchange vows at the airport … or host a wedding reception at an airline-themed museum.Some of the lovebirds who choose that route work for the airline and are aviation enthusiasts.

Others are frequent fliers who met while traveling or kept a long-distance relationship thriving by flying back and forth regularly.

On Tuesday, Delta Air Lines’ corporate communications general manager Sarah Lora got married at the Delta Sky Club on Concourse B, the latest wedding the airline has hosted.

Lora met her now-husband Cody Kaufman at a Sky Club on the same concourse six years ago. He was headed to Montana for a hunting trip; she was on a work-related trip to Latin America.

Kaufman had a plate from the Sky Club buffet, and Lora asked how he liked the food — and gave her business card to the frequent flier, offering to help with anything he might need since she works for Delta.

TRENDING STORIES:

From that point, they were “always crisscrossing” with their travels, Lora said. They connected this week at what Delta Sky Club regional manager Mark Kozak called the first Sky Club wedding he knows of.

During the ceremony, officiant Gabriel Bugarin, who works with Lora at Delta, announced: “If anyone objects to this marriage, find the nearest exit. It’s sometimes behind you.”

Other carriers including Southwest Airlines, the second-largest carrier in Atlanta, have also hosted weddings on flights. One couple got married earlier this year at Southwest’s baggage claim carousel at the Cleveland airport, where they met.

The Delta Flight Museum at Delta’s headquarters next to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport hosts weddings and events inside the museum and aboard the 747 Experience, a Boeing 747-400 parked outside the museum.

However, other less-conventional wedding sites such as the Sky Club or on flights are not actual wedding venues that couples can book. Instead, employees or others can request special access to get married in a place normally used for travel.

This article was written by Kelly Yamanouchi with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.