Monday, Feb. 15, 1999 | 11:49 a.m.
No pipe organs for these brides and grooms. No stained glass windows either.
Flickering control panels, Star-fleet officers and the bridge of the USS Enterprise may be a nontraditional setting, but for four couples married Sunday at the Las Vegas Hilton's "Star Trek: The Experience," it was a dream come true.
The hum of the craft "traveling warp speed through the galaxy" was all that could be heard beyond the "I do's" of the Valentine's Day couples who were the first to participate in the attraction's intergalactic weddings.
"We didn't want the traditional wedding," Nicole Lasagna said. Lasagna and Robert Hall, longtime fans of the show, came from Rodeo, Calif., to be married on the Enterprise.
"What more could a 'Star Trek' fan ask for?" she asked. "It's just like in the show. It's like we are in an episode."
More than 50 couples have requested to be married on the Enterprise since the $70 million attraction opened a year ago, David Mandt, spokesman for Paramount Parks said. The four couples married Sunday had been calling the longest with wedding requests, he said. The experience, a 65,000-square-foot collaboration between Paramount and the Las Vegas Hilton, offers a complete replica of the bridge, turbolift and grand corridor of the fictional USS Enterprise.
Couples were "beamed up" through the transporter then escorted by Starfleet officers through the transit corridor onto the bridge, where they were united at the control console.
The "24th Century Wedding" packages include use of the bridge for rehearsal and ceremony, wedding photography, an intergalactic floral bouquet, an officiant to perform the ceremony and the presence of "Star Trek" characters and Starfleet officers. Wedding receptions are held at Quark's Bar & Restaurant adjacent to the attraction.
The "Captain's Wedding" is $2,000. The "Admiral's Wedding" costs $3,000. Both ceremonies include 30 guests.
"Star Trek" watches and a brass plaque of the wedding date on display at Quark's Bar & Restaurant are also included.
"People can add to customize their package," Mandt said. "Several couples have requested unique experiences. One couple has requested a full Klingon wedding. We will work with each couple to do what they want."
That includes working with various faiths and customs. Sunday's nuptials included a Jewish wedding.
"This is a truly unique experience to be the first Jewish wedding to take place on the Starship Enterprise," said Rabbi Gary Golbart as he joined Marshal Rosenthal and Joanne Modlin of Los Angeles.
Golbart, a local rabbi from Adat Ari El, added "Ribono shel olam," to the ceremony's welcoming song. "Ribono shel olam' is Hebrew for Master of the Universe," he said. "I thought it was indicative of the occasion."
Golbart, a longtime fan of the series, will be doing all the Jewish weddings on the Enterprise, he said. "This was a great honor for me."
More than an honor, Modlin said. "It's memorable. It's different. It's cool. It's once in a lifetime."
For Patti Cookson of El Sobrante, Calif., the Starship wedding was the logical end to the proposal of longtime boyfriend Lonnie Lee Smith. A year and a half ago he proposed, "I'll marry you if you marry me on the bridge of The Enterprise."
They were the first couple to be married Sunday.
Mikel Salsgiver and her husband, Craig, of Plano, Texas, replaced traditional white and lace with Vulcan white and gray as they renewed their vows after five years of marriage. She sewed the outfits for the occasion, and each finished the look with Vulcan ear tips.
"Being it's so unusual, I think it's going to be a big hit," said Doris Salsgiver, mother of the Vulcan groom.
Among the guests were attraction cast members Commander Kurmas, a Klingon warrior, and Rog'l, a Ferengi. "So far the humans who have participated in these weddings seem very happy," Kurmas said.
But the prospect of intergalactic wedding customs -- such as throwing rice -- seemed to confound him.
"Rice? If such a foreign custom was to be introduced on the bridge of the Starship, surely we'd be informed," Kurmas said.
"Surely if someone were going to throw rice at me there would be retaliation."
For more information on Star Trek: The Experience wedding packages contact Kelli Mallory at (702) 697-8751.
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