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On The Wings Of Love! Pilot Couple Tie The Knot At Airport In La Verne

LA VERNE (CBLA.com)  —  A bride and groom who got married Saturday have had their heads in the clouds long before this special day.

Both pilots, the new husband and wife, decided what better place to marry than the place they met.

KCAL9's Bobby Kaple reported it was only natural the bride would walk down the aisle...of an airport.

The wedding -- complete with "I now pronounce you husband and wife" -- looked on the outside like any other outdoor April wedding.

But instead of arriving by the traditional limo, Tina Ziolkowski and her new husband Dave Hopkins, both flew in on their own planes.

"Tina and i really wanted to have an airport wedding because we love airports, we're both aviators we're both pilots," said the groom.

There was another special reason.

"We wanted to pay homage to both of our parents who were veterans in WWII," he said.

"And in addition to all of those factors we met here," said the new bride. Here is Brackett Field in La Verne.

Five years ago, she was working on her plane. She walked into the flight school to clean up. It was then, Tina met the British flight instructor that today became her hubby.

Before she landed, Tina did three fly-bys. Her groom started to wonder if she was ever coming down to Earth.

"I was wondering if she was having second thoughts," Dave said.

Tina explained it had nothing to do with cold feet.

"It was just the joy of landing at my wedding. And seeing Dave and seeing the crowd. That's new and different. I don't usually land and have a crowd applauding," she explained.

Seventy guests -- including 12 pilots -- were on the tarmac to watch the couple tie the knot.

It was a wedding where, love was truly in the air, as Kaple reported.

"I don't think I know of anybody whose flown in for their own wedding, especially a bride who is wearing a wedding dress. That takes a lot of courage," says Dave.

The entire affair was rather low-key -- the airport's coffee shop did the catering.

And what's next for the happy couple?

They told Kaple they will take a honeymoon but yet haven't decided what the destination will be.

They just know -- they will leave the flying to someone else.

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