Shine OnAdventurous newlyweds say “I do” before scaling down high-rise wedding venue
Miami newlywed Rebecca Shackleford couldn't wait to kick off her high heels and, well, jump off a building after exchanging vows with husband Carlos Gato.
The couple, who married at the JW Marriott Marquis in Miami, celebrated their marriage by rappelling down the hotel's 19 storeys.
“I had no idea this is how she would want to get married,” Shackleford's grandmother, Joyce Barnes, remarks to the Miami Herald. “Especially jumping off a building — usually that happens much later in a marriage.”
The unusual celebration was part of a fundraising effort for the Miami Children’s Initiative (MCI) called Over the Edge. Though Gato only proposed in June and they had planned to wait until 2014 to tie the knot, the couple rushed to get their wedding together for September 6 in order to participate in the MCI’s wedding contest.
“Calling them adventurous would be an understatement,” the bride’s father, Fred Shackelford, tells the Herald. “Every time I see her, it’s like, ‘Where’s that bruise from?’ And it’s, ‘Oh, that’s from mountain biking’ or ‘That’s from street surfing.’”
The newlyweds performed their stunt in front of guests and news cameras assembled to publicize the initiative.
On ground level, the article notes, their friends and family gathered to toast the couple with champagne and cake.
