2 flight attendants got married in front of a plane in a wedding full of nods to their love story

• Alex and Audrey Chowbay got married on September 3, 2022.

• The Chowbays, both flight attendants, got married at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Houston, Texas.

• The wedding included actual airplanes, late-night Whataburger for guests, and a private last dance.

Audrey and Alex Chowbay were training to become flight attendants when they fell in love.

Audrey and Alex, both 27, went to Dallas, Texas, for three weeks in 2018 to complete their in-flight training on their way to becoming flight attendants.

There were over 300 people at training, but Audrey told Insider Alex caught her eye by their third day in Dallas.

After unsuccessfully trying to get Alex's attention by complimenting her hair, Audrey eventually introduced herself to Alex and the pair became fast friends — and then more.

"We got very close in three weeks," Audrey said. The Chowbays said they think of their experience at training as similar to being on a dating show because they spent almost every moment together for weeks.

After training, Alex and Audrey got stationed in different cities, but they knew they wanted to try to be together. Alex frequently visited Audrey, allowing their relationship to blossom.

By the time they were both getting stationed in Houston a few months later, it felt natural to move in together.

Alex proposed to Audrey on Christmas Eve 2020 after carrying her bride-to-be's ring around for nearly a year and a half.

Alex originally planned to propose to Audrey in front of both of their families, but the pandemic complicated her idea.

"I actually sat with her ring for almost a year and a half, and that was torture because Audrey loves to organize," Alex told Insider. "She's constantly picking a new spot at the house to organize, and that made my job busy because I was constantly having to find the ring, move it to a different location, and remember where I put it."

Eventually, Alex decided to pop the question in front of her family on Christmas Eve 2020 with Audrey's family on FaceTime, giving her a gift box that said "Will you marry me?" inside.

Audrey was shocked but elated.

"I could not stop crying," she said.

As the Chowbays started planning their wedding, they knew they wanted it to reflect their love story.

Alex and Audrey planned their wedding for September 3, 2022, and they started looking for a venue in the Houston area, but nothing felt right, as they wanted something distinct from other weddings they had attended.

"The venues are beautiful and my friends had gorgeous weddings, but it just wasn't our vibe," Audrey said.

But their vision became clear when the Chowbays decided to focus on something they both loved: flying.

"We're both obviously in aviation, but both of our families are also in aviation. We both just grew up with airplanes around us," Alex said. "So I was like, 'How cool would it be if we found a way to pull this off?'"

When Alex and Audrey found the Lone Star Flight Museum, they knew it was the perfect venue for their day.

Lone Star is home to a myriad of airplanes that still fly today, so it serves as a museum, learning center, and hangar.

Audrey and Alex said they immediately felt comfortable in the space, and they knew it would be perfect for their nuptials.

However, the planes in the museum rotate, so they couldn't know what their venue space would look like until mere days before their wedding.

Luckily, their wedding planners, Hilary Ganong and Avery Daniels of TailoredxTwo Wedding Planning, ensured their vision came to life.

The Chowbays incorporated aviation into the decor.

Because they tied the knot at the museum, the planes at Lone Star acted as much of the decor.

Alex and Audrey built on the theme with aviation touches, like plane-shaped place cards and a passport-inspired welcome sign.

Incorporating Alex's Indian heritage into the wedding was important to the Chowbays.

Alex's family is Guyanese and Indian, and she is a first-generation American.

"Our Indian culture and religion and tradition stuck really, really hard," Alex said of her family, which meant her Hindu religion was a big part of her upbringing. "We were in the church every weekend and a part of anything you could imagine."

But as Alex thought about her wedding, she wasn't sure how much of her culture she wanted to infuse into her wedding.

"I was super hesitant at first to incorporate any of that because I was struggling with the idea of having traditional things while being gay," she told Insider. "My parents and my entire family were so supportive and they were just like, 'Oh, stop worrying about that. Just do what you want to do.'"

After struggling for months to decide what she wanted, Alex chose to include nods to her culture without focusing on the religious aspects of her heritage.

For example, the Chowbays had a Sangeet in lieu of a rehearsal dinner the night before their wedding, embracing Bollywood music and traditional dancing.

Audrey also chose their flowers with an Indian wedding in mind.

Audrey wanted to prioritize real flowers at the wedding, and it was important to her that marigolds were in the arrangements because they're a popular flower at Indian weddings, as she told Insider.

Their florist and decorator, Monica's Brides, created rainbow-hued arrangements with marigolds at the center, bringing Audrey's vision to life.

She also made them a custom floral archway that didn't connect at the top, so the plane behind their altar would be on full display.

The couple said they were "blown away" by how the flowers turned out.

The Chowbays had a henna artist at their Sangeet.

Alex and Audrey both got bridal henna from Naqiya of Paisleys & Swirls Body Art for their wedding, and they hired her to provide henna for guests at their Sangeet.

"She sat there for two and a half, three hours for the guests," Alex said.

Camryn & Christly of Butter Artistry provided hair and makeup services for the Chowbays' wedding.

Alex also decided to wear a lehenga to the wedding.

Alex told Insider she usually gravitates toward more masculine fashion, so deciding what to wear on her wedding day was difficult.

"I love to wear suits all the time, so I wanted that, but I was like, 'Everybody's going to expect that.'" She also wanted an outfit that would nod to her culture and provide an element of surprise.

She ended up at Manyavar in Houston with her sister and mother, and a purple lehenga with silver embroidery caught her eye.

"I put it on, and my mom and I had the whole cry-fest moment," Alex said.

"I picked the outfit really just to pay homage to my family and my ancestors and my culture, and to just be able to show both sides of my personality," she added.

And for the reception, Alex changed into a suit.

Alex selected a white jacket with black lapels and a single button with black pants and shoes.

She said comfort was her priority with the suit from Connaisseur Paris, particularly because of how uncomfortable her first outfit was.

The lehenga weighed around 60 pounds, and Alex had to wear six-inch heels with the look.

"I hadn't walked in heels since probably prom," she told Insider.

Audrey chose a form-fitting wedding dress.

Like Alex, Audrey departed from her typical style with her bridal look.

In her day-to-day life, Audrey told Insider she usually wears looser clothing, and she anticipated her wedding dress would be the same.

But she surprised herself by falling in love with a form-fitting gown from Impression Bridal.

The white dress had a mermaid skirt that allowed her to dance easily and off-the-shoulder sleeves, and Audrey added a pearl belt to it for a touch of glamour.

The Chowbays didn't see each other's outfits until a first look on their wedding day.

Kelsey Ediger captured the first look, as did the couple's videographer, Matthew Zafra.

Both Alex and Audrey were surprised by each other's outfit choices. Alex said she thought Audrey would wear a gown with lace, and Audrey was shocked to see her bride-to-be in purple because it's her least favorite color.

But both loved each other's outfits, and they were grateful to have a private moment together before they got married.

"If we didn't do that, I would've passed out," Audrey said.

"The anxiety leading up to that was so intense," Alex agreed.

Audrey had multiple family members walk her down the aisle.

Audrey wanted her dad to walk her down the aisle, but she also wanted her stepfather to be involved.

"He's been in my life since I was 10, so he definitely helped raise me," she said.

But most importantly, Audrey wanted to take her final steps into marriage with her mom by her side.

"That was very important to me because my mom's been my girl my whole life," she said.

Audrey's father and stepfather walked her into the venue space, and once they reached the chairs that created the aisle, her mom stepped in.

Audrey's brother-in-law married the Chowbays.

"He has known Alex the entire time we were together and offered to do it as a complete joke," Audrey said.

But the more the Chowbays thought about it, the more they liked the idea.

"When he married my sister, his vows were the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard," Audrey said. "Everybody was in tears."

Audrey's brother-in-law agreed, though he warned the Chowbays he may be emotional as he married them.

Audrey and Alex wrote their own vows, and their officiant "put a spin" on the traditional elements of wedding ceremonies for the Chowbays.

"It was so beautiful that by the time it got to me reading vows, I was fighting back tears so hard," Audrey said of her brother-in-law's words.

But the ceremony also had lighter moments that reflected Alex and Audrey's joyful relationship.

For instance, Alex ended her vows by saying, "Xoxo, Gossip Girl," nodding to one of the Chowbays' inside jokes.

"We had a lot of little things that were our inside jokes" at the wedding, Audrey shared.

The Chowbays' wedding was also catered by the chain restaurant Texas Roadhouse.

"I used to work at Roadhouse for four years, and we're still obsessed with their bread and butter," she said.

The wedding also included bar services from The Belle Boot, LLC, and a charcuterie board from The Chatty Mouse.

They shared their first dance to a song Audrey spontaneously sang to Alex during a meal at Whataburger.

The Chowbays danced to "Forever and Ever, Amen" by Randy Travis for their first dance.

"I sang it to Alex in a Whataburger out loud because it was playing," Audrey said.

The intimate moment stuck with both of them.

"We knew a long time ago that that was going to be the song that we danced to," Alex said.

"I still can't listen to it without crying," Audrey said.

And of course, the Chowbays had to have Whataburger for their late-night wedding snack.

The brides provided honey butter chicken biscuits from Whataburger for their guests toward the end of the wedding.

"It was perfect," Audrey said.

"Everyone was freaking out," Alex agreed. "There were honey butter chicken biscuits stuck in people's pockets. It was just so funny."

Audrey and Alex also shared dances with their dads at the reception.

The brides chose to dance with their fathers at the same time, so they were on the dance floor together.

Once again, Audrey included her stepfather in the experience.

"My dad started the dance with me," Audrey said. "And then halfway through, my stepdad danced with me the rest of the way.

The Chowbays said the dance made them and their dads emotional.

"Everybody lost it," Alex said.

"We all sobbed the entire time," Audrey echoed. "It was a really special moment."

The reception lasted until nearly 2 a.m. because everyone was having so much fun.

"The only thing we really cared about was making sure we had a very specific amount of hours to be fully dancing," Audrey said. Alex agreed, saying they tried to keep speeches short.

The couple got their wish with the help of their DJ Danny Ramdhani, as the reception was supposed to end at midnight but they partied until nearly 2 a.m. with their guests.

"The DJ said 'last song' probably three times before it was actually the last song," Audrey said.

The Chowbays cake and desserts were provided by Frida Jaime.

Alex and Audrey also shared a private, final dance at the end of the night.

The Chowbays danced to Sam Smith's cover of "Time After Time" as their guests waited outside for them to make their exit, which was an emotional experience for them both.

"I ugly cried," Audrey said. "I sobbed the entire three minutes of that song."

"It was perfect, and we got to soak in that moment. I was just so overjoyed that I could not stop sobbing," she added.

"That was one of my favorite parts," Alex said of the dance. "You're just kind of looking around and embracing each other, but also, like, just taking it all in."

"It was a perfect ending," Audrey agreed.

To Audrey and Alex's surprise, their wedding went viral on TikTok.

The Chowbays' planners shared content from their wedding on TikTok, and two videos of the event went viral.

One video garnered over 4 million views, while another had over 9 million views.

Alex and Audrey didn't anticipate the viral attention, particularly because neither had ever posted a TikTok at the time. Alex told Insider she didn't even have an account when their wedding went viral.

The Chowbays made a joint TikTok account as a result of the videos because they wanted to answer questions viewers had about their wedding and relationship.

The Chowbays hope sharing details about their wedding can help other couples who look like them feel confident about embracing who they are.

"I just think it's really important for other couples that look like us — that are mixed cultures or just in the community period — to just do what they want to do," Alex said. "That's so important to me."

"It took me so much courage and bravery to dig deep and actually go through with it because I almost didn't," she went on to say, speaking of having the relationship and wedding that were true to her. "And I think I would've regretted that for the rest of my life."

Audrey agreed, adding that owning their wedding felt even more important after they received some hate comments on TikTok.

"There's definitely a lot of hate toward people who look like us," Audrey said. "But for every one person that says something negative, there are three more people who are ecstatic and love to see it."

"Just be who you are because lying to yourself is never gonna give you that happy ending that you're looking for," she added.

The Chowbays accept each other for who they are.

"I love that she puts up with my shit," Alex said of her relationship with Audrey.

"I am a child stuck in an adult's body. I drop my clothes on the floor. I walk around doing weird stuff, and I don't think there's anybody in the world that would actually deal with me," Alex said. "But Audrey just does willingly."

Alex described her behavior as annoying, but Audrey doesn't see it that way.

"I have my forever best friend," Audrey said of Alex.

"It's just nice to constantly feel safe in that way," she added. "That you just have your person who's always looking out for you."

For Audrey and Alex, spending more time together than ever is the best part of being married.

Because they're both flight attendants, Audrey and Alex are often apart for days at a time, which they said just makes them value the days they're together more.

"When we come back, we try to spend every waking moment together," Alex said.

"When we're home, it's all about each other," Audrey agreed. "Whether it's just going to the grocery store together or working on a date or watching TV for four hours or just sitting in silence together. We're so content."

You can see more of Kelsey Ediger's work here.

If you have a unique wedding story and want to talk to Insider for a story, get in touch at sgrindell@insider.com.

Read the original article on Insider