Hawai Bandhan, a wedding in the air

A marriage made in the heavens …. literally!

The bridal couple, Sunita & Dilip Popley being welcomed at Mumbai airport by Uttara Parikh of Air India.

​Air India always did things differently, and has many firsts to its credit, particularly for customer delight and here is one more example. When Laxman Popley of Mumbai, owner of Popley & Sons, Jewelers wanted to celebrate his son Dilip’s wedding with Sunita in October 1994, he approached the airline for something different, and the airline replied that for him, The Sky is the Limit! This is what made the airline truly unique.

Popley wanted to have the wedding ceremony performed on a flight. This had never been done before anywhere in the world. Operationally challenging, it required preparation of a complete schedule, many permissions needed to be obtained etc. Air India started with  requesting permission from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). They selected an Airbus A310 aircraft and the flight was called AI 611. It was to take off from Mumbai airport, fly to and over Ahmedabad, turn around and come back – a two-hour journey and during which time the wedding ceremony was to be performed and refreshments were to be served to the guests.

Wedding invitations were sent out. A separate area was created at Mumbai airport with 3 dedicated check-in counters decorated with flowers and music playing. A big welcome banner was also placed.

The Hawai Bandhan Boarding Pass in a specially designed folder was given out to each passenger.

Air-India dedicated 3  decorated check-in counters at Mumbai Airport for all the Hawai Bandhan flight guests.  

​The entire event was called ‘Hawai Bandhan’ (Wedding in the Air). A special design was created for this entire ceremony and tickets were given to guests in a folder specially designed for this. This folder said, ‘Air India proudly welcomes you to a historic wedding in the air, A marriage that’s truly made in heaven. We hope you enjoy the world’s first airborne wedding’. The same design was repeated on to the boarding cards and other collateral.

The Managing Director of Air-India, Capt. D.S. Mathur with Bride and Groom

​Boarding was at 12.30 pm and take off was at 1.00 pm. Eight rows of seats were removed from the aircraft for the priest to perform the wedding ceremony and for the bridal couple. The bridal couple came to the airport in all their wedding finery and checked in at the beautifully decorated check in counter. Uttara Parikh, who was the main organizer on part of the airline, was there to greet them and was also on the flight. The Managing Director of Air India, Capt. D.S. Mathur who also happened to be at the airport greeted the couple as well.

​Rose water was sprinkled on the guests as they boarded the aircraft, and a rose bud was presented to each of them.  Shehnai music which is traditionally performed in Indian weddings was playing on the music system inside the aircraft as were other traditional wedding songs. The priest started performing the wedding ceremony once the aircraft took off. The ceremony itself was performed in full including recitation of traditional shlokas (hymns). The only part that was not possible was the lighting of the holy fire, which was not permitted for safety reasons.

These tent cards were placed in each meal tray on the flight.

While the ceremony was going on, guests were served with refreshments. The airline pulled out all the sops where it came to catering. Master Chef, Sanjeev Kapoor was roped in to curate the meal and he also prepared the three-tier wedding cake. The meals were served on Royal Doulton crockery. Each tray had a little menu card with the same Hawai Bandhan motif. The food served on board was catered by Air India in full compliance with their requirements of loading meals on board to fit in the trolleys.
 
A gift was also given by Air India to all the guests at the wedding. Air India also gifted the newly married couple tickets to Switzerland for their honeymoon. This was the first time a wedding ceremony was performed in the air, and was not repeated anywhere for many years by any other airline.
 
On a lighter note, I would love to see what their wedding certificate says about the place of marriage.

Here is a link to a 2 minute video about the wedding
​ https://reuters.screenocean.com/record/1016526

We are grateful to Uttara Parikh, our source of never ending knowledge on everything about Air India, for sharing this wonderful story with us and to permit us to use the images.
She was the coordinator from Air India for this event.