Photo by Laszlo Andacs, LaszloImage.comMaking a wedding entrance as husband and wife
for the first time is always a grand moment for a couple. But Heather
Howley and Marius Ivascu of Newburgh, New York set the bar sky-high on
Saturday by dropping into their wedding reception from the heavens.
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Howley,
30, owns Independent Helicopters at Stewart International Airport in
New Windsor, NY and Ivascu, 31, is a pilot, skydiving instructor and
member of the U.S. Parachute Team. After their Saturday wedding, Howley
piloted a helicopter, opening the doors at 3,000 feet to allow her new
husband to parachute to the ground at their wedding reception at the Old
Rhinebeck Aerodrome, an aviation history museum.
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The
move was a totally natural one for the couple, says Ivascu. “Heather
and I are passionate about aviation and she's even inspired me to get my
commercial pilot's license,” he told Shine. In fact, their first date
was the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome on a rainy day when flying conditions
weren't ideal. After dating for almost three years, Ivascu proposed in
the fall of 2011 by sneaking the engagement ring into the battery
compartment of his camera which he told Howley was broken. She tried to
fix it by pulling a ribbon out of the compartment and the ring, which
was fastened to the other end, fell out.
On Saturday Howley
piloted herself and her bridal party to the church, parking her small
helicopter in the parking lot, and kicked off her heels for the ride. "It
was tough flying in a poofy wedding dress and a bomber jacket but I
also had on five-inch heels which were uncomfortable so I ended up
flying barefoot," Howley told Shine.
After the ceremony, the
couple asked their guests to meet them in the parking lot of the
Aerodrome to watch Howley pilot her plane and Ivascu parachute to the
ground in his tux from 3,000 feet. "The guests weren't really surprised that our wedding was aviation themed but I heard it was awesome to watch from the ground," said Howley. "People were saying ours was the most fun wedding they had ever been to."
For their honeymoon, the
couple are flying themselves to Niagra Falls for a three-day getaway in
Ivascu's 4-seater Cessna, naturally.
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