Daring couple wed on a wing and a prayer

A DARING couple held their wedding on top of the wings of three planes yesterday — 1,000 feet above the ground.

Groom Darren McWalters, 24, stood on the top wing of a biplane while his bride Katie Hodgson, 23, flew alongside on the wing of an identical aircraft — dressed in full bridal gown.

Rev George Bringham flew ahead of the couple on the wings of a third aircraft and brought the Lancashire couple together in holy matrimony over an airborne communications system.

The ceremony was played through loud speakers throughout RFC Rendcomb Airfield, near Cirencester, Gloucestershire, to the congregation waiting on the ground below.

Jets of white smoke fired from the back of the aeroplane as the couple exchanged their vows in mid-air. Heavy winds and rain cut the flight short and the couple, from Leyland, were rushed inside.

Fitness instructor McWalters said: “We got engaged in the Brazilian rainforest and I wanted a wedding blessing that would top my proposal.

“I bring the adventurous side out of Darren — he used to be scared of heights,” said postwoman Ms Hodgson.

Fearless Rev Bringham, 67, said he was not scared in the slightest.

He said: “I did this before, about eight years ago. It’s certainly the most unusual wedding I’ve ever done.

“The only hairy moment was when I thought my goggles were about to come off.”