Daryl Moore and his wife, Johnita

Daryl Moore helps his wife, Johnita, step down from a Cessna Caravan.

Daryl Moore jokes that he and his new bride wanted to keep the wedding party small.

So he and fiancee Johnita did just that -- exchanging vows Saturday about 7,500 feet up in a 10-passenger Cessna they hired from Chattanooga air charter company Crystal Air.

"It was the second wedding for both of us. We thought it would be something fun and memorable," Moore said in a telephone interview Monday from St. Joseph, Mo.

He and his bride, both of Knoxville, are on a 12-day motorcycle honeymoon to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.

Taylor Newman, the air company's operations director and the pilot for the nuptials, said he and Moore are friends and he was asked about the use of the plane, which was decorated as a wedding chapel.

There were seven people present in the plane, Newman said, including the minister who performed the ceremony. He estimated the vows took place over the Hiwassee River just northeast of Chattanooga and said he took care to remain inside Tennessee's boundaries to ensure the legality of the wedding.

"I pulled it back to be as quiet as the plane could be," he said.

Moore, who is a commercial pilot, said Saturday was "awesome" with the wedding taking place in a blue sky with a few scattered, white clouds.

"Hopefully, more people will follow suit," he said.

After the wedding flight, which took about an hour in all, the couple had some sparkling cider at Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport before a reception at a local restaurant, Newman said.

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