Billionaire tech CEO Ankur Jain and his bride, fitness guru Erika Hammond, were stranded in South Africa after their charter flight failed to get permission
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Ankur Jain and Erika Hammond arrive in Egypt before their wedding
Billionaire tech CEO Ankur Jain and Erika Hammond almost missed their own lavish wedding celebration in Egypt!
The Bilt Rewards founder and CEO, 34, and his bride, 32, a former WWE wrestler and creator of Equinox’s Knockouts class, planned to start their four-day extravagant wedding in Cairo with a welcome party at Muhammed Ali Palace – but due Due to a complication with their charter plane, they didn’t make it to the celebration until 2:30 a.m.
Jain tells PEOPLE that the flight fiasco began as the couple and their friends were preparing to fly to Egypt from South Africa, where they were on safari. “Everything went smoothly. “All checked bags were being loaded into the vans when we received a call that our Egypt Air flight was rejected by the South African government,” says Jain.
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Ankur Jain and Erika Hammond on their way from South Africa to their wedding reception in Egypt
Despite weeks of negotiations and planning to gain approval for an overnight departure, the charter flight they booked ultimately failed to pick up the group in South Africa due to an approval issue.
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The news left the soon-to-be bride and groom in turmoil as they considered what to do next. Jain and Hammond worked all evening to find a way to get to their wedding reception on time and even considered booking a commercial flight to another city in South Africa to get to Dubai and then Cairo.
“At that point, we would definitely miss the entire opening day,” Jain recalls. “We were even worried about making the second day and you can imagine we had been planning this for a year. Erika was in great spirits… I was devastated.”
It wasn’t until 8 a.m. the next day that they finally received a PDF with the traffic authority’s signature on the start permit. However, due to the new schedule, they would not arrive in Cairo until 11 p.m. – three hours after their opening party began.
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Erika Hammond gets ready on the plane on the way to her wedding reception in Egypt
“We sent a message to the group like, ‘Hey, we’re not going to make the party tonight… Go have fun.’ See you tomorrow,” says Jain. “And our friends were immediately great.”
“Everyone gathered in this group chat and said, ‘No, we’re going to keep the party going, we’re staying up…’. “We will keep the party going and you will come when you land and we will celebrate together,” he continues.
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However, that wasn’t the end of her complications. During a refueling stop in Nairobi, ground crew did not show up for two hours. At this point, their flight schedule was postponed even further and they were not expected to land in Cairo until almost 2:00 a.m
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Ankur Jain and Erika Hammond arrive in Egypt before their wedding
Still, Jain says her guests waited happily in Cairo until they arrived. Despite the 12-hour journey, the wedding guests on board danced loudly to music with the bride and groom as they all changed and got ready for the party. They even held an impromptu “fashion show” while Hammond got his makeup done in the back of the plane.
“While we were traveling, everyone in Cairo was at the bar together, sending us photos and rallying us to get there,” says Jain, adding that Lance Bass kept the dance party going until they arrived.
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Ankur Jain and Erika Hammond on safari in South Africa before their wedding in Egypt
They finally made their big entrance around 2:40 a.m. The entire wedding party stayed up all night partying as a DJ played music while belly dancers and fire dancers performed.
Jain tells PEOPLE that despite the “chaotic” start, they were finally able to have the fun they planned. “We partied until 5 a.m. and had just the best opening night,” he says.
The couple, who first met when Jain started training at Rumble Boxing, where Hammond – a founding member of the celeb-loved gym and a trainer at the time – will tie the knot in a private ceremony in Cairo over the weekend.
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Ankur Jain and Erika Hammond on safari in South Africa before their wedding in Egypt
“It’s very special to be in a completely different world environment. So we decided that our wedding is about spending a moment together, celebrating new beginnings, having a very special party with our friends somewhere in a different world,” says Jain.
Hammond adds: “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience!”
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Read the original article on People.