Rita and Gabe Get Married in a Hot Air Balloon

I’m gettng a bit out of order with my posts, since I have a few weddings that happened before this one that I still need to post.  But I had so much fun at this wedding that I juat couldn’t wait to get it online!

Rita found me online as she was looking at photos of other balloon weddings.  Some of my photos from a balloon wedding I shot a couple of years ago popped up, and she liked what she saw so she visited my website.  Rita sent me an email asking if I had the date open, and we were ready to go.

The day of the wedding was in the middle of one of Seattle’s few hot spells, with the temps hanging at about 90 degrees.  Very toasty for rain-soaked Seattleites.  Fortunately launch time was planned for about 7PM, so the temp had a little chance to drop before lift off.

We met at Suite C’s Vino Wine Bar, where we would be picked up by Over The Rainbow Balloon Hot Air Balloon Rides and taken to the launch point.  The way balloon rides work means that the launch point is not decided on until close to the launch time, so the wind direction and speed can be known.  You want to be sure that when you go up in the balloon that you’ll be able to come down where you want to!  Since where you go is completely determined by the wind, lots of pre-flight planning is very important.

We were taken by vans to a field in Maltby, where two balloon were waiting.  Another group was already there and their balloon was already being filled.  While we waited for our balloon to be filled, I took Rita and Gabe to another part of the field for a few pre-ceremony photos while were still on the ground.  As the balloon was inflated we were allowed to go inside the partially filled balloon and take some photos there – very fun!

Soon we were ready to launch.  There would be a total of five of us in the ballooon; Rita and Gabe, Heather (maid of honor and good friend of Rita’s), Terrie (officiant and also a friend of Rita’s) Al (the pilot) and me.  It was going to be difficult for Rita and Terrie to climb into the basket once the balloon was ready to fly, so the canopy was turned on its side to make it easier for them to get into place.  You’ll see a photo of this below.

Then it was time to launch.  Al, Gabe, Heather and I all climbed in and we were ready.  Al fired up the burners and within a minute we were airborn and slowly accelerating into the sky.

Once we reached “cruising altitude” the ceremony began.  Lots of fun!  Gabe and Rita played “Rock, Paper, Scirros” to determine the order of vows, with the loser going first.  Rita won, though it is quite possible that she cheated….🤣

After the ceremony we spent a very pleasant hour-plus just slowly drifting over the Eastside, enjoying the views.  Champagne was served, as well as lots of water.  Which was important because it was still pretty darn warm outside.

It was finally determined where we would attempt to land, the driving range at Bear Creek Country Club.  Note that I said”attempt”,because as I noted earlier we were almost completely at the mercy of the wind.  By changing altitude the pilot could locate winds that would move us in different directions, but finding that “just right” wind is very challenging.

The ballon that had left before ours was on the same course, and came in for a landing right where planned on the driving range.  Things did not work out quite so well for us.  There was a small wind change and reaching the driving range just wasn’t possible.  For a short time it looked like we were going to land on the roof of the clubhouse!  But our pilot passed over the clubouse by maybe 20 feet, and we dodged a tree and finally came back to earth on a patch of open grass just off a fairway.

Getting out of a balloon basket while wearing a wedding dress is almost as bad as getting in!  Rita managed to climb to the top of the basket and Gabe helped her to the ground.  Again, you’ll see photos below.

We finished off the trip with a ride back to Suite C’s where wine and champagne were served, and Rita and Gabe cut their wedding cake.  An absolutely wonderful experience!  I will look forward to my next opportunity to photograph a balloon wedding!