Pam and Jeremy Missed Their Vegas Chapel Wedding—So They Got Married on the Plane
By Jessica Goodman
When Pam, a nurse who works in medical sales, spotted Jeremy’s profile on Bumble in August 2020 she wasn’t expecting much. She had never been on a dating app before, and he was the first person she matched with, thanks to a funny line about a TV show they both like in his profile. (She also thought he was extremely cute).
But soon, the two were texting, and Pam asked Jeremy to meet up in person that following Friday. She and Jeremy, who owns a graphic design firm, met in Oklahoma City, Okla. for a night of bar- and restaurant- hopping and for what she calls “the most amazing date ever.” Jeremy felt the same way. “Within thirty seconds, she had me laughing,” he says. “And within thirty minutes, I was like, man this is different.” Both agree that the conversation flowed freely and neither one struggled to fill the silence. They ended up staying out until last call.
Even though Pam and Jeremy had major chemistry, she wasn’t ready to settle down with him since she’d only had a small taste of the online dating world and wanted to see what else was out there. Plus, Pam was wary of the fact that Jeremy had two kids, aged 12 and 15, who were still living at home part of the time. (Jeremy co-parents with his ex-wife). Pam had already raised kids (hers are 21 and 28), and wasn’t interested in being a parent again. “I was very honest from the beginning,” Pam says. Jeremy got her hesitation—“It hurt but I understood,” he says—and the two decided to stay friends.
Over the next eight months, Pam and Jeremy continued to talk, staying up late during “marathon text sessions,” sharing everything and nothing. That’s when they really got to know each other, relaying the minutiae of their lives, being completely honest with one another. Pam was having a hard time one day in May 2021, when Jeremy texted, asking how she was. She went off about how horrible her day had been, and he responded, “You know what? You need a day of fun.”
It had been months since they’d seen each other, but Jeremy made plans to pick her up that Saturday with her favorite snacks seatbelted into the back of his car. The two spent the whole day and night visiting restaurants and bars around town, eating, drinking, laughing, and chatting with folks on every terrace and patio. Jeremy made her feel better with his supportive, fun-loving nature and helped her forget about her bad day. Both of them say this is when their friendship started to turn into something more.
As the day went on, Jeremy could feel their connection grow. So could Pam, but she was still hesitant about getting into a situation where she could potentially become a co-parent. That day, they were able to talk more about it, and Jeremy explained that his kids didn’t need another mom since they already had a great one. He didn’t want or need Pam to tell his kids to do their homework or eat their vegetables; she could just be Pam. Learning more about Jeremy and his ex-wife’s strong co-parenting relationship made Pam reconsider. She realized that maybe she could get serious with Jeremy, and that was all it took. They’ve been inseparable ever since that day in May.
Months later, in January 2022, Jeremy and Pam took a winter trip to Cancun to celebrate their birthdays, and he surprised her with a proposal. Even though the engagement went smoothly, when it came to wedding planning, they hit a few roadblocks. Originally, they were eyeing Mexico to honor their engagement, but didn’t want to deal with the legal ramifications of getting married in a foreign country.
In April, they were trying to figure out what to do when they joked about jumping on a plane and heading to Las Vegas to do the deed. Except Pam wasn’t really joking. “She’s so impulsive and I’m the classic overthinker,” Jeremy says. “So I had to think about it, figuring out the logistics, but I knew I’d say yes eventually.” Within two hours they had their flights and hotel booked, and Pam had ordered her dress.
After a whirlwind few days of planning, Pam and Jeremy were all set to make their Vegas wedding a reality. Pam even wore her wedding dress to the airport. But after they landed in Dallas, Tex., their connecting flight to Vegas was canceled. With a scheduled chapel appointment, they had to scramble. They quickly rebooked their flight on another airline and even had to drive to a different airport to make it. Aptly, their new departure left Dallas’ Love Field. Along the way, they met a man named Chris who was also on their original flight from Dallas to Vegas and rebooked alongside them. Seeing Pam’s wedding dress, he told the couple that he was an ordained minister and offered any assistance should they need it.
Once they all finally got to their new gate out of Love Field, they realized the flight still wouldn’t get them to Vegas on time for their chapel appointment. That’s when they made the decision to get married right there, on the plane, telling the captain and crew what they had in mind. As soon as they boarded, they got to work planning their wedding on the plane. Pam and Jeremy started typing vows on their phones while Chris wrote a quick ceremony. Since Chris works in broadcasting, he also happened to have lights, a tripod, and a camera stabilizer in his bag so they could capture the ceremony.
“Once we got to cruising altitude, the crew lept into action,” says Pam. They taped up toilet paper as streamers and dimmed the lights to make it more romantic. Once the captain started speaking, he welcomed the passengers to the flight—and also “to the wedding of Pam and Jeremy.”
As soon as the captain said those words, everyone was asking how they could help. One woman said she was a professional photographer and volunteered to take pictures, and when Pam walked down the aisle of the plane, all the passengers turned on their “call” buttons so the plane was lit up. The impromptu wedding went off without a hitch. “When they started playing ‘Here Comes the Bride,’ all I could see was 175 strangers and cell phones, smiling faces,” says Pam. “It was the most amazing thing.” Jeremy agrees. “It couldn’t have gone better,” he says.
After they landed, the wedding went completely viral. Pam and Jeremy spent the first month of marriage fielding press requests, doing interviews, and talking about their spur-of-the-moment wedding in the air. “It was an experience we’ll never forget,” says Jeremy. And now that they’re married, they’ve settled down to remodel a house together in Yukon, Okla. and are ready to enjoy one another’s company—as well as more spontaneous adventures. An in-flight vow renewal isn’t out of the question!