Getting hitched on Everest was the first wish to be ticked off our couple bucket list

...Say the newlyweds from Kochi, who trekked for nine days, braving the freezing weather to reach the unique wedding venue
Aswathy Raveendran was the most silent girl in her college, say her batchmates who are now astounded to see her wedding photos on social media. When it was time to enter wedlock with her beau Ratheesh Nair, she gave thumbs down to the mundane wedding norms and embarked on a nine-day trek to Mt Everest base camp to mark the event.The couple tied the knot on May 15 at wedding venue — located 17,598 ft above sea level braving temperatures at minus 15 degree Celsius — to make it a memory of a lifetime.

The duo, who is back in Kerala after their fairytale wedding, is still in the excitement of making their dream come true. Aswathy, a PhD student at Gandhigram Rural University, Dindigul, and Ratheesh, a manager in a car company in Dubai, tell us their love saga and the road to the Everest wedding.
THE BEGINING
Aswathy: We first met in October 2014, while I was doing my MPhil at Dindigul. Our common friend Meera, who is an ardent traveller, planned a trek to Sirumalai hills. Ratheesh too joined us. I had heard of him and his adventurous trek to Kilimanjaro. But during the Sirumalai trek, we got to spend a lot of time together and we realised we had many things in common.
Ratheesh: I had a positive vibe about us. The interactions we had during the trek, tempted me to stay back for a few days. And we later went for another trek to Kutladampatti waterfalls. That’s when I fell in love with her.

THE PROPOSAL
Ratheesh: I always wanted to get married on Mount Everest and I proposed to her, saying that I want her to make my dream come true.
Aswathy: I wasn’t sure about getting married on Mt Everest as it was beyond my imagination. I’m a single child and my parents definitely had so many dreams about my marriage. And even though I have climbed the Western Ghats and few foothills in and around Kerala, I was never an expert trekker. But we decided to be in a relationship and see how things will go.

THE FAMILY
Aswathy: When we told our families about getting married on Everest, they were initially hesitant and were worried about the risks. But after Ratheesh spoke to my parents, they agreed.
Ratheesh: With one clause though — that after we return, we should also have a simple wedding and reception.

THE WEDDING PLANNING
Aswathy: During the pre-wedding days, the bride and groom usually go to shop for clothes and visit beauty parlours. But we were busy hitting the gym. As it was my first high altitude trek, I had to improve my lung capacity and so, did a lot of breathing exercises.
Ratheesh: We did our wedding shopping at sports stores in Kochi where we bought trekking equipment such as hiking poles and clothes.

THE WEDDING VENUE
Aswathy: Along with three friends, Meera, Swathy and Thejaswini, we reached Nepal on May 5. After spending two days at Kathmandu, we left for Lukla and started our trek to the base camp on May 7.
Ratheesh: The trek to the base camp is never easy. There was heavy snowfall and the temperature was freezing. Also, as we weren’t expert trekkers, we had to deal with fatigue every now and then. The rocky terrain had posed their set of challenges as we didn’t have places to rest. We weren’t used to climbing high altitudes and so, breathing was always an issue. We managed to reach the base camp on May 15, after nine days.
Aswathy: We reached the base camp at 3.30 pm. We had carried our wedding attires and by 3.40 pm we were dressed as the bride and bridegroom. An elder Buddhist couple at the camp gifted us rings that we exchanged, along with our version of garlands made with ribbons. The ones in the camp cheered us.

THE LASTING FEELING
Aswathy and Ratheesh: It was divine and magical. The fatigue, chill or the challenges of the terrain that we had to endure during the nine-day uphill journey vanished in a moment. We returned on May 28 and had a small ceremony at Parumala temple, Kochi, and a reception in the evening.
THE BUCKET LIST
Aswathy: Passion for travelling and trekking is what bonded us, so we do not have a life without these. We will be keeping aside a major part of our savings for it. We are preparing our bucket list and one among the location is Machu Picchu in Peru.
Ratheesh: We will travel till our death. Our wish right now is to travel around the globe. This is just a beginning. We have a lot more to do.