Couple weds in hot air balloon flying over Cappadocia

NEVŞEHİR – Demirören News Agency

In place of an ordinary wedding ceremony, a couple chose to solemnize their marriage in a hot air balloon flying over the historical Cappadocia region.

“I am very very happy,” said 23-year-old groom, İbrahim Korkmaz, after getting married to his 24-year-old bride, Gülten Kaya, above 1,000 meters in the sky.

According to the couples’ relatives, Korkmaz, a photographer from the Central Anatolian province of Nevşehir, met Kaya, who resided in Germany, a while ago. In a short time, the couple decided to get married.

With COVID-19 restrictions imposed against crowded wedding ceremonies, the couple decided to tie the knot in Turkey’s tourism hotspot, Cappadocia, while flying over the clouds in hot air balloons.

Fatih Çiftçi, the mayor of Gülşehir Municipality of Nevşehir, also supported the couple and promised to perform their wedding ceremony himself.

On early March 28, the couple, their friends and the mayor came together to carry out the wedding ceremony, which lasted for one and a half hours in the hot air balloon flying over the Cappadocia region.

Cappadocia, famous for its fairytale scenery, cave dwellings and remarkable rock formations, lies between the Central Anatolian provinces of Nevşehir, Niğde and Aksaray.

It is Turkey’s one of the most visually striking region, especially the “moonscape” area around the towns of Ürgüp, Göreme, Üçhisar, Avanos and Mustafapaşa.

The region was formed 60 million years ago by erosion of soft layers of lava and ash from Mount Erciyes, Mount Hasan and Mount Güllü. Human settlement in the Cappadocia region dates back to the Paleolithic era.