Gloria Jones was a bit annoyed with her older daughter. She had been waiting for a phone call from Hilarie Manion, who was to fly in July 9 from Wheeling, W.Va., with a friend.
“We were supposed to meet them at the airport, but I couldn't pin them down on a time,” Jones said.
Finally, at 4 p.m., Jones called her younger daughter in Omaha to ask if she knew the arrival time.
Daughter No. 1 answered.
“My husband and I were a little upset,” Jones said. “We felt left out because we thought we were picking them up at the airport.”
A plan was made to grab a bite to eat, so Jones was wearing shorts and tennis shoes when she and husband Dennis arrived at the Omaha home of daughter Yvonne Nachtigall.
Both daughters were dressed up, Manion in a long, white dress with matching heels.
And Jones learned that she was minutes away from being the mother of the bride.
That was just the beginning of the surprise.
Nachtigall was going to officiate the ceremony for her sister.
And it was all going to happen in a hot-air balloon.
Because their mother won't fly, the daughters worked for several months to pull off the sky-high surprise in Omaha. In fact, Nachtigall became a clergywoman via an online church so she could perform the nuptials.
Winds changed the balloon's lift-off spot from Zorinsky Lake to a home near 168th and Pacific Streets.
The basket was big enough for the bride, groom, minister and the balloon pilot, Steve Lacroix of Scenic Wind Balloon Tours of Omaha.
“We kind of followed their progress from the park. It was very exciting,” Jones said. “It was very unconventional, but we had a good time. As long as she's happy, I'm happy.”
After the 45-minutes aloft, the balloon landed at Boys Town, narrowly missing a garden plot of healthy tomato plants and drawing a crowd of surprised onlookers.
Hilarie Manion-Couture, 54, met new husband Edmund “Ed” Couture, 49, about six months ago. He plays bass guitar in a jazz band and wears a beret while performing. Hilarie attended a concert and was wearing a nearly identical beret. Their hats started a conversation that led to the wedding.
Jones says that, looking back, she really shouldn't have been surprised by the day's events.
Two years ago, the freelance writer for the Jewish Press interviewed her older daughter for a story she was writing for that newspaper. In the interview, Hilarie said that the next time she got married, she wanted it to be in a hot air balloon.
Contact the writer:
444-1165, sue.truax@owh.com
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