It was no flight of fancy for Jan and Roger Hutt when they tied the knot - they hit a lovers' jackpot while hovering over Las Vegas in a helicopter, writes Rebecca Smith.

Jan, 43, and Roger, 54, decided they wanted to do something different after being married previously.

Drive-through weddings, soaring in a hot-air balloon, being married by "Elvis" or speeding along on the back of a motorbike were just a few of the ideas discussed before Jan, of South Avenue, Abingdon, saw helicopter weddings on the Internet. Immediately, she knew she had found the right ceremony. Jan, a shop assistant, said: "It appealed to us. We wanted to do something completely different."

The couple flew to Las Vegas and were married three days later. They were picked up from their hotel by a white stretch limousine and whisked to the helipad.

Annette and Paul Johnson, of Culham Road, Abingdon, introduced the couple two and a half years ago and joined them on board as witnesses.

The couple recited their vows over the glittering lights of the city during their 15-minute night flight and played the soundtrack from Whitney Houston's blockbuster film, The Bodyguard. Jan, who has two children from her first marriage, said: "It was lovely and very romantic - even though we had to wear headphones and speak into microphones to say our vows - it was very amusing. We had just been married and there were all the lights below us. The atmosphere was wonderful.

"It was much better than a crowded church and much more intimate."

Roger, a logistics consultant who has one son from his first marriage, had even more luck in the casinos and won $1,500 on a machine before the wedding.

Story date: Monday 06 December

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