New Jersey Couple Get Married On United Flight

Jake Meli, a Wall Township resident, met Abigail Power at an anime convention in Atlantic City, where they cosplayed as their favorite characters from Naruto. They had their first date at Six Flags Great Adventure and had their first kiss on the Ferris wheel. 

Seven years later, the couple got married. 

To everyone’s surprise, Jake and Abigail chose to get married on an airplane. But United Airlines was all for it, giving them a wedding and a honeymoon all in one trip.

“I reached out to United,” said Jake. “I’ve been flying United ever since I was a child, and I hadn’t been getting any no’s. But no real confirmations until, I guess, they realized that, ‘Yeah, this is actually going to happen.’ So, now we’re here, and they did a really nice job. More than I thought they were actually going to do.”

United Airlines helped the couple organize their mid-flight wedding, providing them with onboard decor, a cake, and champagne glasses for a toast in the air.

Jordan Bykowsky, director of airport operations customer service at United Airlines, discussed how “honored” and excited she and her team were to help “make a memory in the sky” for Jake and Abigail. While they have helped couples get engaged on flights, Bykowsky doesn’t know of any other weddings on a United flight.

“I think it’s amazing that people want to celebrate with us,” said Bykowsky. “Because we’re always trying to get them to their celebrations, and now, we get to be a part of the actual celebration. So maybe this is a new trend.”

Jake and Abigail boarded their nuptial flight at Newark Liberty International Airport on July 11. After they tied the knot, the happy couple landed in Orlando, Florida, where they planned to honeymoon at Universal Studios and Walt Disney World.

The idea for an airborne wedding came from Jake’s best man, Ryan, whom he had been friends with since fourth grade. When he heard Jake was going to propose to Abigail, Ryan had already gotten married on a cruise ship. As a result, Ryan told Jake that to one-up him, he’d have to get married on a plane. The rest was history.

“I was joking when I told [him],” Ryan admitted. “I didn’t think he was taking it seriously, but yeah, he took my words literally.”

“Our original idea [for the wedding] was a little bit more extravagant, like skydiving…and my wife is definitely not for that,” said Jake.

The loving couple invited multiple family members and friends to join them on their flight, with some traveling with them to Orlando just to fly right back to New Jersey. While Jake and Abigail will have a second, more traditional wedding ceremony, this flight will surely begin their married lives together on a high note.

Like true pop culture enthusiasts, Jake and Abigail gave their airborne wedding a Star Wars theme. Jake sported a red suit with a red lightsaber tie, with other guests wearing outfits to represent green and yellow lightsabers. Meanwhile, Abigail made herself up to resemble Senator Padmé Amidala with a white dress made by her maid of honor and long-time friend, Bridget.

“I went to college with Abby,” said Bridget. “We’ve been friends for a decade now. And I met Jake when he was working at Saber VR, a virtual reality arcade. And we hit it off. We became really good friends. I set them up, actually.”

Jake now works for Verizon, but he has put together a five-year plan for himself that he now gets to share with his wife. He aims to teach educators how to use virtual reality technology to better train kids in the classroom.

Abigail works at the preschool and child daycare, First Discoveries, which is owned by Jake’s mother, all while training to become a nurse.

A Star Wars-themed wedding in the skies over New Jersey set off some big plans for Jake and Abigail with their new lives together, with their loved ones happy to see them together.

“Oh, they’re perfect for each other,” said Ryan. “Yeah. They’re all into the same crazy stuff. So I couldn’t find a better match for [Jake].”