SANTA CLARITA - Helen Rhodes had dreamed of her wedding for a long time. She hoped that all the details would be perfect. She feared that her special day might never come.
But on Saturday, as Rhodes sat in a red-plastic roller coaster seat - with her legs dangling 170 feet in the air and her ruffled ivory-colored dress flowing in the wind - she knew her wedding had happened exactly the way it had been meant to. Just two months ago, Rhodes' father died and funeral expenses tapped all the money for the wedding. It was then that Rhodes and her fiancee, Ian Footlik, learned that Six Flags California's Magic Mountain was seeking couples to get married on July 7, 2007.
And the young couple knew their luck was about to turn around. "We're not superstitious," Rhodes said as tears welled up in her eyes. "But this was like a gift from the sky.
" Rhodes and Footlik were one of seven couples married atop the park's newest ride, Tatsu. Park organizers said it was their way of joining in the triple-7 wedding craze - on the seventh day of the seventh month in 2007. The once-in-a-lifetime date generated a flurry of weddings across the country as chapels, florists and caterers struggled to keep up with demand.
Six Flags spokeswoman Connie Lujan said the park just wanted to give a half-dozen-plus lucky couples a special day to remember. And for the seven couples that took the plunge into married life Saturday morning at the park, the day was about more than just superstition. After being in the U.
S. Navy for four years, Sabrina Gomez learned how to move fast and keep it together under pressure. But even this tough girl broke a sweat when she got the lucky call just 24 hours before her "big day.
" Gomez had applied for the Six Flags event, but figured she hadn't been accepted because she didn't get a call back. Then at noon Friday, she got the call. "I ran to the bridal store during my lunch break," said the 22-year-old Gomez.
Gomez's mother-in-law, Aura Morgan, was surprised to learn about her son's quick wedding plans. But she said she knows the couple's marriage will last a lot longer than it took to prepare for the ceremony. "I know they will be very happy together," Morgan said.
The wedding-times-seven was minister Bonnie Nixon's first for the day - but definitely not the last. "We booked 26 weddings today," the Rev. Nixon admitted she had never married a couple on a roller coaster before, but said the 62- mph ride was only the beginning for these couples.
"Will you take her to be your seatmate in marriage as well as in this ride?" Nixon asked the grooms. The nontraditional ceremony also included a promenade down the aisle with ducks, pigs and a giant rooster.
Seventy-four-year old Ray Donns, a San Diego resident, never imagined he'd be giving his granddaughter away on top of a giant coaster. "They are always coming up with something new," Donns said. "But, hey, if they get married on a bungee cord, why not this?
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