A couple getting hitched on a Malibu beach saw a whole new kind of a wedding crasher after a climber got stuck on a nearby cliff.
The couple, David and Jihan Chesher of Pleasant Valley, MO, had to stop their April 25 wedding as the climber was rescued by a Fire Department helicopter.
The climber, Adam, had gotten stuck halfway up the side of Point Dume, not far from where the wedding was happening on the beach. The person he’d been climbing with had called for a rescue, but firetrucks and other emergency vehicles had been unable to get to him.
That’s when the local fire department sent over a rescue helicopter, which made a very loud entrance as it came around the side of the cliff.
Fortunately, the Cheshers had a good sense of humor despite spending months planning their dream outdoor wedding. These days, average cost of a wedding reception alone can be more than $13,106; that’s owing to the fact that couples need everything from a cake to a space with an outdoor wedding dance floor.
It was the couple’s wedding photographer, Stephanie Gill, who noticed the climber and began snapping away as the rescue vehicles kept coming. “When the fire trucks, cop cars, ambulance and lifeguard trucks all come up, I said, ‘What’s next, a helicopter!?'” she wrote in an email to KTLA News in Los Angeles.
Although they stopped the wedding ceremony, the Cheshers posed for the camera, holding their hands together in a heart shape over the helicopter flying in the background.
“I get that some people might freak out about it, but I have no control over that helicopter up there in the air, so it was just funny at that point,” Jihan Chesher said.
The climber came over to apologize to the Cheshers and even offered to buy them a gift. But David Chesher said that they had already received one thanks to their memorable wedding.
Gill posted the photos of the helicopter to her Instagram, where they then spread across the internet.
The Malibu Fire Department’s Air Operations section posted about it on their Instagram feed to wish the Cheshers good luck on their nuptials: “To the happy couple enjoying your wedding on beach… we trust the beautiful sky and helicopter rescue at your ceremony are sign of great adventure to come! From all of us at Air Ops, thank you for allowing us to attend your special day. We wish you the best!”