Couple Who Loves Skydiving Jumps From Hot Air Balloon After Tying the Knot

A newly married couple went above and beyond for their celebration, skydiving right after their nuptials.

Patrick Russell, 38, and Melanie Ilemsky, 36, married in a hot air balloon earlier this month while surrounded by close family and friends. Moments after exchanging vows, they jumped from the balloon.

"We were really struggling with how to do something non-traditional on the ground," Ilemsky said.

The dress she donned for the big day was purchased for $20 online and altered for the big jump.

“I got a cheap dress from Amazon and I brought it to a tailor so it could be fixed with a skydiving rig," she added. “You don’t want any loose fabric or to be pulling the wrong thing."

She added: “The dress was so short that I had to wear a pair of shorts beneath it. It wasn’t a dress I would choose for a regular ceremony.”

They decided to have an airborne wedding due to their shared love of skydiving. The couple first met at a skydiving drop zone in New York.

Ilemsky’s mother presided over the marriage while they were sky high. It wasn’t the first time the couple had done hot air balloon jumps.

"It took a couple of months to plan,” Ilemsky said. "My mother and I sat down and worked out what we were going to say. We [later] realized we should have rehearsed it, because our adrenaline was pumping. We couldn’t remember a single line."

They were also depending on good weather for the ceremony and thankfully, everything went as planned.

The couple plan to have a honeymoon later in the year, when the weather gets cooler in New York.

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