North Carolina couple gets married 30 miles out in the sea on Frying Pan Tower

A North Carolina couple became the first to ever get married on Frying Pan Tower over the weekend.

Audrey and Ben Black are from Surf City, but for the rest of their lives they can tell people they were wed in the middle of the ocean.

"It was everything I've ever wanted, ever dreamed of," Audrey said. "It was perfect."

More than 30 miles off the North Carolina coast, there's a platform that stands 85 feet above the ocean. It's called Frying Pan Tower.

The platform was built in the early 1960s to replace a U.S. Coast Guard lightship. Most people think of it when hurricanes come through because the tower has a livestreamed camera pointed at a US flag.

After the hurricane passes, the battered flag can be auctioned off--with the money raised being donated to help victims of the storm.

Ben was a volunteer at Frying Pan Tower back in 2020. He was there helping in restoration efforts. He said one day during his time at the tower, he sat on the helipad and prayed for his soulmate.

Four days later, he got a notification that it was Audrey's birthday. Audrey and Ben had been friends for about 10 years, but they'd lost touch recently.

After getting the notification, he reached out to her and a year later the two are husband and wife.

The couple said they weren't rushing to be the first people married somewhere, but they thought it was pretty cool that they had a unique wedding story.

"This is exactly what we wanted, this is the perfect way to start things off and for us to start our future together," Ben said. "This isn't the last time we'll be back on the tower for sure."