Pune, Apr 19 : In an offbeat wedding ceremony on Saturday, a couple tied the nuptial knot mid air in a hot air balloon in Pune.

Sheetal Mahajan, who has done the country proud with her free-fall para-jumping feat from a height of 2,400 feet above the North Pole and South Pole, wanted to get married in a unique manner, and decided to get married in a hot air balloon.

And what followed next after Sheetal became the country's first woman para-jumper to have jumped at the North Pole and South Pole, was this unique marriage ceremony, which took everyone by surprise.

After convincing her parents, it did not take Sheetal long to coax the groom to agree to her idea.

To make sure that everything went well on the big day, a rehearsal was held a day before the marriage.

And the adventurous spirit of the young para-jumper seems to have rubbed off on others too, with the priest too taking to the mid-air experience with zeal.

"We were around 500 to 600 feet above the ground but there was nothing to be afraid of," said Milind Bildikar, a priest.

The preparations did not take long and the couple was married at a traditional ceremony mid-air in the presence of their family and friends.

"After jumping at the North Pole and the South Pole, I wanted to get married in a unique way. Luckily, my life partner was game for a mid air wedding in a hot air balloon and I'm really happy about it," said an ecstatic Sheetal.

This mid-air marriage cost around 100, 000 rupees and generated quite a lot of interest in the city.

After getting married mid-air, next on Sheetal's agenda are plans to set a world record in para jumping along with her husband.

Aero sports like para sailing, para gliding, hot air ballooning, and para jumping are fast taking the world by storm, especially among the young, adventurous crowd.

These aero sports offer the thrill of flying and 'free fall' and touching terminal velocity is the closest man can come to flying like a bird.

ANI