bjgreen
A rare photo of the marriage party posing with the Lockheed’s seaplane on West Beach. The bride and groom are second and third from the left (Photo: Santa Barbara Morning Press, October 5, 1919)
By Betsy J. Green
A couple of SB folks grabbed a minister, a Lockheed plane, and flew up to become man and wife 2,000 feet in the air. The groom was a pilot who had flown overseas during the war, and now worked for the Zenith Aviation Company of Santa Barbara. The couple went up with the pilots, two witnesses, a daring minister, and a cameraman from “Flying A.”
“As the plane reached the proper altitude, the motor was shut off, the minister and bridal couple arose. As the minister pronounced the age-old words: ‘Do you – take this man to be your lawful wedded husband,’ the camera clicked. They descended to the water as man and wife, the complete flight taking 12 minutes.”
“The idea of the hydroplane marriage was suggested yesterday afternoon by the bride-elect, who was not seeking for the spectacular at all, but as a tribute to the nobility of her fiancée’s profession as a master of the air, she believed the marriage far above the earth in the element which he lives would not be out of place … It is said this is the first hydroplane marriage in the United States.”
Betsy’s Way Back When book — 1918 — is now available in local bookstores and at Amazon.com. This is the fifth book in her series of the history of Santa Barbara, one year at a time. Learn more at
