One of the most unusual weddings in history has taken place as planned with the groom orbiting the Earth and the bride on the ground in Texas, USA. Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, 41, has married his American girlfriend, Russian-born Yekaterina Dmitriyeva, by video link between the International Space Station and Nasa space control centre in Houston.

The bride, in an ivory wedding dress, was at the space centre with her bridesmaids and wedding guests, while the groom wore a bow tie with his blue space suit. He was accompanied by his best man, fellow astronaut Edward Lu, who had the additional duty of playing the wedding march on a portable keyboard.

?It was cool. It went straight to the heart,? said the bride, standing next to a life-size cut-out of her groom that was his stand-in at the space-themed wedding reception. The couple set their wedding day before Yuri?s mission aboard the space station was extended following the Columbia space shuttle disaster.

Under Texan law, they were allowed to tie the knot despite not being in each other?s presence. A friend acted as a proxy for the occasion. The couple have sold the video rights of the ceremony to an American TV company, which broadcasted it yesterday.