NEW YORK, Aug. 25 -- Larry Fisher and Lynne von Schlichting tightly held hands in the front seat of Coney Island's Cyclone roller coaster Thursday before plunging into history as the fourth couple to wed on the famous ride. The eclectic pair -- groom in top hat, tails and black and white checkered shoes, bride in pale green silk with fuschia knit cap and rhinestone earrings -- said they loved tying the knot in such a thrilling way. 'The only thing scarier than going on the Cyclone is getting married,' Fisher, 34, a thrift store operator, told United Press International. 'So we figured we may as well put them together.' Schlichting, 29, the lead singer in a rock band, added her only fear was for her stomach. 'I said, 'Great, but I've got to bring a brown paper bag with me,'' she said with a laugh. The Rev. Stanley Bass performed the brief ceremony just before the pair and their wedding guests descended on the 90-second ride that Charles Lindbergh once described as more thrilling than his historical solo flight across the Atlantic. Opened in 1927, the wooden roller coaster is on the National Register of Historic Places. During the ceremony, Bass said the roller coaster was symbolic of the 'ups and downs manifest in the course of a normal, happily married life.' Wedding guest Lexie Montgomery wound up with a bloody nose after inadvertently banging it with her wrist as the roller coaster took its first heart-stopping dive, but said she wouldn't let it interfere with her fun.
'I've known Lynne since I was 15,' she said. 'She's a crazy lady and this is just perfect for them. They're a very classy couple.' The pair rode the Cyclone three times before finally getting off to face the beginning of their married life on more solid ground. The honeymoon, however, will be just as original as the wedding. 'We're going to go see that Oliver Stone movie, 'Natural Born Killers,' they said, laughing. (edited by Harold Martin in New York)
