Zipping Down the Aisle: Are Zipline Ceremonies the Future of Weddings?

It took more than just complex rigging and experience to make Ethan and Tiffany Fowler’s zipline wedding a memorable event. They might have figured out a way to get Tiffany’s dress into the sling, and they might have successfully transitioned the couple from their harnesses to the ceremony, but it wasn’t until Bradley Brown, the adventure park’s manager, got ordained online that the whole affair came together. 

 

The couple made headlines last month when news outlets got wind of their original and daring wedding ceremony at Keystone Safari, and adventure park in Pennsylvania that features a zipline course. Here at American Weddings our first thought was, “this sounds like something one of our ministers would do.”

 

The groom making his entrance...

 

Sure enough, Brandley told us the he was in fact ordained online, and that he did so in order to officiate Ethan and Tiffany’s wedding. “I think the bride and groom should be able to choose anyone to bring them together,” Bradley told us. “I think everyone's wedding should be specific to them, and I was happy to be involved.” 

 

People like Bradley are proof that anyone can, and should get ordained online to perform weddings. He was also the perfect candidate because he loves helping people and getting involved to make them happy. When it came to creating the ceremony, Bradley told us that, “anytime the couple needed me I made myself available and that kind of attitude really made things smooth.”

 

And now for something slightly more formal...

 

Their wedding was a light-hearted affair, and any bride that ziplines down the aisle probably has a sense of humor, and doesn’t fixate on tradition. The couple and their newly-ordained officiant worked closely together creating a ceremony that reflected who they were, and that would work in the context of a zipline at an adventure park. 

 

“My favorite part of the wedding was working with the family,” Bradley told us. “I got to know them very well and to help them get through their day. I remember at the ceremony Tiffany was extremely nervous and I looked at her a cracked a joke and I could feel her anxiety diminish. My friends and family think me getting ordained is fitting.” 

 

Who says you can't have it both ways?