On 24 November, 350 guests dressed in Indian ethnic wears took a special flight on Boeing 747 – the Queen of Skies. The jumbo aircraft had no (travel) class divisions, such as economy, premium economy, and business. There was music, dance, food…. absolute ‘midair’ revelry aboard the flight for 3 hours. It was the venue of a big fat Indian wedding in the sky. Needless to say, grand Indian weddings know no bounds or heights.
Dilip Popley, a wealthy diamond merchant with lavish jewelry stores in India and Dubai, married off his daughter in a grand inflight wedding on B747, which was modified to suit the purpose. The lovebirds – Vidhi Popley and Hridesh Sainani – tied the knot following various rituals on board while the aircraft with decorated interiors was flying from Dubai to Oman. The inflight wedding was a first-of-its-kind surprise in Dubai, where it has become a vogue in India and the USA.
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The Dubai-based NRI family that owns the diamond jewelry brand – Popley and Sons – founded in 1927, has a history of weddings in the sky. The bride’s father, Dilip Popley, had got married on an Air India flight between Mumbai and Ahmedabad in 1994. Organized by Air India with approval from the regulatory bodies, the inflight wedding was the first such historic event in the world of aviation. When Dilip’s father approached the then national carrier for an unconventional wedding, the airline responded, “The Sky is the limit.”
The wedding event on Air India’s A310, which made headlines as “Hawai Bandhan”, was such a lavish affair that celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor had designed the menu for the guests. “My wedding in the air was my dad’s dream. He wanted to get me married on an Air India plane. Now I am carrying his dream to another level with my daughter’s wedding on a B747 aircraft,” said Dilip Popley with pride.
The guests for the Vidhi-Hridesh wedding on B747 were handed over boarding passes designed with traditional motifs of Indian wedding. The groom wearing a cream-colored sherwani and the bride wearing a red lehenga with delicate golden work arrived in a red Ferrari at a private terminal in South Dubai where their close family members and friends received them in an impressive manner. They boarded the aircraft decorated with exotic flowers inside for a 3-hour flight cum wedding ceremony.
The B747 operated by Jetex was equipped with projectors for all the 350 guests to enjoy unobstructed viewing of the nuptial ceremonies. The seats on board were upholstered with floral fabric. The guests grooved to foot-tapping Bollywood numbers that filled the cabin air with electrifying vibes, just like in a typical Indian wedding on ground. Traditional dishes including shahi paneer, dal makhani, mushroom pulao and likes from a quintessential north Indian wedding menu were also served on board.
It seems Dubai is not just a popular stopover for transit passengers of Emirates flights between USA and India, but also a getaway for destination Indian weddings. “My wedding in the air is my father’s dream to another level. I hope, for my (future) child’s marriage, technology will allow us to do something bigger, such as wedding in space,” said the newly wed Indian bride.