A couple got “married” on a plane heading to Seattle because they have over $50,000 in student debt and because JetBlue flight attendants are really cool. After dating for more than ten years, Dina Zawaski and Charles Belliveau decided to elope and were giving a pretend wedding by flight attendants, who pronounced them “travel companions for life” as cheerful and unhappy passengers looked on.
A couple got “married” on a plane going to Seattle as other passengers looked on, some were thrilled, but few seemed annoyed. Dina Zawaski and Charles Belliveau, who have been together for more than ten years, had decided to elope.
The couple originally from Boston, Massachusetts had plans to board a JetBlue flight to Seattle, Washington and drive to San Diego, California for a small ceremony with one friend, no rings and a photographer.
No one knew about their wedding plans other than Zawaski’s grandmother. Dina Zawaski explained:
“We hopped on a plane to Seattle and planned to secretly elope after road tripping down to San Diego, staying with (and surprising) friends along the way.”
The reason the couple was having such a low-key wedding is because they are working non-profit jobs, and they owe a combined $50,000 in student loan debt. Charles Belliveau is working on his masters degree and hopes to become a licensed mental health counselor.
As she was sitting on the plane, Dina told Chris, a flight attendant, that it was her bachelorette party, and she spilled the beans on her secret wedding ceremony. The flight attendant took matters into his own hands to give the lovers a surprise plane “wedding.” Chris said:
“I thought it’d be pretty cool just pretty quickly to have a fake airplane wedding. This is literally our first time – we have no idea what’s going on.”
Napkins were used as flowers and a garbage bag for a veil, and Chris sang the Wedding March into the plane’s intercom. Chris told the few frustrated passengers who were not thrilled by the mock wedding:
“It was so hard to get them out of their seats, let me tell you. his is going to be very quick so you can get back to your televisions.”
Chris came up with some hilarious vows:
“Dina…Do you take Chad to be your lawfully-wedded travel companion, through better or worse, as long as you both shall live.”
The bride and groom exchanged “wings,” pinning them on each other’s shirts and Chris concluded by saying, “By the power invested in JetBlue, which is no power at all, we now pronounce you travel companions. You can now kiss the bride.” According to The Inquisitr, a flight attendant named Joanne played the role of flower girl.
A passenger surprised the couple by pulling out his saxophone, playing Frank Sinatra‘s “The Way You Look Tonight” for them to enjoy their first dance. Talking to Boston media, the bride said:
“the JetBlue flight attendants’ ceremony was much more elaborate than my actual May 26 wedding, which took place on the Sunset Cliffs in San Diego’s Ocean Beach. I actually got married in shorts and flip-flops and Chas wore his Nike basketball sneakers. We didn’t even exchange rings – or wings – just letters that we wrote to each other a couple hours before the real ceremony.”
Chris was kind enough to set up a honeymoon registry at Honeyfund.com for the couple, but the bride wants to use the donations for a big wedding ceremony with their families.
What are your thoughts on this surprise “wedding?”
