CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WJZY) — Wedding bells? It was more like wedding alarms for one North Carolina couple who got trapped in an elevator on their wedding night.
Panav and Victoria Jha say they were headed to their wedding’s after-party on the 16th floor of the Grand Bohemian when they got stuck in the elevator for two hours.
“When it first happened, I thought it had stopped for a few seconds. It’ll restart. And then we noticed that the door was just slightly ajar,” said groom Panav Jha.




They say the elevator got stuck between the lobby and the first floor. The bride and groom were in there with the bride’s sister and three of their guests.
“Elevator had a glitch and here we are. It had to happen with the groom and I both stuck in the elevator. So, at least it wasn’t just one of us,” said bride Victoria Jha.
Ultimately, Charlotte Fire saved the day by helping the couple tie a different kind of knot.
“They harnessed me up, got me in full gear, and pulled me up four floors with a fireman,” said Victoria Jha.
Video posted to Charlotte Fire’s social media shows the apparatus the crew had to set up to get them all out.
Though it’s a wedding night they’ll never forget, the bride and the groom were devastated that they were not able to finish celebrating the night with their guests nor say goodbye to those traveling from out of town.
“We were not able to celebrate or do the last kisses or goodbyes. And that’s what put the damper on everything. That’s how the wedding night had to end,” said Victoria Jha.
But, as to how it felt to be hoisted up through an elevator shaft?
“I would say James Bond. Maybe Mission Impossible,” laughed Panav Jha.