Wedding Theme Idea: Scuba Wedding
March 24, 2007 by Christine Gooding
Filed under Unusual Weddings, Wedding Themes and Ideas
You and your spouse-to-be have a deep connection with the water? Keen divers, I hear? Why not have an underwater or scuba wedding just like Julie and Angelo McAlee?
Location & date of wedding: Underwater at Dry Rocks Reef, Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Florida
We met in a dive class, and after all of the diving we had done together, it seemed like the thing that expressed something very important to us both.
Our biggest challenge: Our biggest challenge was the fact that none of the parents involved dive, and none of them liked the idea that we were getting married underwater. We rented a glass-bottomed boat and had part of the wedding onboard, then put on our dive gear and descended to finish the ceremony underwater. Having a glass-bottomed boat allowed us to give access to some of our friends and family who otherwise would have felt excluded, while we got to keep our sense of individuality.
More photos after the jump!
People don’t always react well initially when they hear about a wedding that is outside what they consider a “regular” wedding. Those are the same people who said to us later how great they thought it was that we did something so unique.
My favorite moment: After being so stubborn that we would have an underwater wedding, I have to admit that my favorite moment from the wedding was actually being at the reception with our friends and family gathered around. When the wedding was going on and everything was busy, I didn’t get to really enjoy having everyone together like that. It was only when we had a lull during the reception that I was overwhelmed that everyone had come to be there for us… even though most of them were seasick during the wedding!
Read more of their story HERE.
thats a wonderfull idea in fact was gonna use it before i stumbled on your story. i realy wasnt copy cating. im having a little trouble getting things together. i was just wondering though how did you make all the arrangements?
Do you need a to your diving certificate to have a scuba wedding? Also my fiance is not a confident swimmer, is it too much to ask her to agree to a scuba wedding
Better late than never… I just found this post, and it’s about me.
To answer the questions above…. we were actually married at a dive operation in Key Largo, FL who has specialized in underwater weddings for years. As far as arrangements, I contacted them and arranged to charter one of their boats for the morning. Dive operations are accustomed to having their boats chartered by groups, so that was fairly straightforward. Most of the rest of the arrangements were probably the same as any other destination wedding. The hard part is explaining to your wedding guests that they will have to sign a waiver to come to your wedding.
In order to have a diving wedding, you do have to be scuba certified. No reputable dive operation is going to let you go into the water without your having an appropriate certification. It’s not safe for you or for them.
If you’re getting married and you love scuba diving, you may love this shirt We did!
http://shop.cafepress.com/design/30921572
It’s just married jellyfish!