Brooklyn Couple Will Be
First Married in Zero Gravity
By Caitlin McNamara
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
BROOKLYN — Brooklyn couple Noah Fulmor and Erin Finnegan, who met through their love of science fiction, are set to be the first twosome to say their vows while floating in zero gravity. After more than a year of planning, the long-time fantasy will become reality on June 20.
“Noah always said, ‘Let’s get married in space! Let’s get married in space!’” says Finnegan. “I said, ‘I don’t think we are going to be able to afford that, in 10 years, or 25.’”
When they heard that Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G) had become FAA-approved to provide weightless flights to the public, they signed up. Their nuptials will take place aboard a specially modified Boeing 727-200 aircraft, in the zero gravity created by the craft falling during a series of parabolic arcs. The flight will depart from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla.
And although it’s certainly cheaper than leaving the earth’s orbit, this is still not a cheap proposition. ZERO-G requires a 12-person party, at the cost of $5,400 each ticket — and that figure doesn’t include the rings or the dress. The couple is sharing the cost of their friends’ tickets.
“All my friends think it is the coolest idea ever,” says Finnegan.
The theme is meaningful to Fulmor and Finnegan, who each once dreamed of life as an astronaut. As kids, Finnegan attended camp at the Michigan Space Center and Fulmor volunteered at his local planetarium in Denver, Colorado.
Big fans of science fiction, anime and gaming, the couple met as members of their respective schools’ sci-fi clubs. She attended NYU and he Columbia University, and they met when their clubs spent time together.
Their officiant will be Richard Garriott, the “sixth private space explorer” (NASA guards the term ‘astronaut,’ says Finnegan), son of an astronaut and well known as Lord British of the computer game series “Ultima,” which he created. Finnegan writes on their wedding site, “We’re excited to have Garriott as our officiant because we hear he loves Dungeons and Dragons.”
In keeping with the theme, the couple chose wedding bands forged by Rhode Island artist Chris Ploof of metal from the Gibeon Meteorite — estimated to have landed in Namibia 30,000 years ago. Her dress (featured in fashion week 2009) was crafted by Japanese designer Eri Matsui specifically for zero gravity.
Although no one has yet seen it in action, many ruffle-like layers are designed to flow “like a sea anemone or jelly fish” Finnegan says, and hidden pants offer coverage for when upside down. The groom’s tuxedo tails were specially designed by J. Lucas Clothiers to “take advantage of zero gravity conditions.”
The wedding party will have 15 parabolas during which to complete the ceremony. During each fall, from 34,000 to 24,000 feet, weightlessness lasts about 30 seconds, so they will have about seven and a half minutes total of zero Gs. They will take a videographer and photographer, and plan to edit the footage to show a continuous, weightless ceremony, which they will screen at receptions for friends and family.
Fulmor is a legal secretary and Finnegan works in animation production, and also writes freelance about anime and manga for Otaku USA magazine and Publishers Weekly. They have lived in Brooklyn since college — first Park Slope, now Williamsburg — and co-host the Ninja Consultant podcast.
“In all seriousness,” writes Finnegan on their site, “Noah and I are throwing a lot of money at our crazy wedding because private space travel is a cause we really believe in. We really think the future is space, and that private citizens ought to be able to travel there. We want to promote space travel as a positive thing.”
They are applying to the Guinness Book of World Records as the first zero-gravity wedding. Fulmor and Finnegan also hope to go to Antarctica for their honeymoon, but for that they will have to save a little longer.
For more about Fulmor and Finnegan’s plans visit zerogravity wedding.com. For details about the flight visit gozerog.com.
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