Thursday, February 17, 2011

Married Underwater? My Parents' Wedding

As you may have figured out by now, OffbeatBride.com and I are pretty tight.  In fact, it's really the only major wedding website I read besides WeddingBee.com.  This may be somewhat due to the fact that my parents had the ultimate offbeat wedding.

Not many girls can say that her parents got married underwater.

In fact, I've never met anyone else who has.

It all started with a dive boat.  My mom was being set up with another guy by a friend.  They were supposed to go scuba diving together with some other friends, but no one showed up except my mom and dad.  They decided to just go together.

A year later, they had the most offbeat wedding I have ever heard of.  This includes Dia de los Muertos weddings, Medievally costumed weddings, and truly Geektastic weddings (with dinosaurs!).


So how, you may ask, does one get married underwater?  It's simple really.  Be scuba certified.  Have the groom's brother, who is also scuba certified, become a minister of the Universal Life Church (or whatever the thing is that makes it really easy to be a minister--I should probably find out about that, haha).  Do the ceremonial ceremony bit in a boat, then hop over the side in your gear, and finger spell the "Do you?  I do"s.

They kept this on the boat in case anyone forgot.

My mom would have liked to do all that under a glass-bottomed boat so that the guests could watch, and they would have loved to do it at Catalina since they spent so much time diving there.  Alas, their budget was pretty small, so the guests had to stay a little closer to home.  But hey, at least they were dry.

Before we get into the picture bit, let me apologize for the atrocious picture quality.  They are old and covered by plastic, and I had to take pictures with my camera because the scanner is broken.  I've kept them small so that the pain on your eyes will be a bit more manageable.  Also, I have no idea who took these photos, but somehow I doubt they'll mind me reproducing them.

OK, on with the show!

It started on the beach.

My mom would have liked to have a white wetsuit since the dress wasn't happening, but again the budget intervened.

All dressed up and ready to go!

While they headed into the ocean, the guests watched from the beach.

I love the bridesmaids' clothes :).
 
 Almost as much as I love the vintage bathing suits.  1980, all I can say is "Wow, things have changed."

Everyone watching as someone in the boat holds posters to tell them what's going on (The Vows, The Kiss, etc).

Meanwhile, the padres were busy getting married.

The Ceremony Begins

The Only Photo of the Ceremony Backdrop

The Witnesses
(and my ghostly presence drifting through time to capture it with my Canon PowerShot...while wearing pajamas and a towel...at least I was prepared!*)

When the deed was done, they returned to the shore to celebrate.


Now, my mom may not have had a dress, but she did have a bouquet.  A very themed bouquet.  A bouquet made out of kelp in fact.  But no one would ever throw such a bouquet, would they?

 And you thought the traditional bouquet toss was bad!

BTW, no one should have to see their father half naked on his wedding day.  Creepy.

The original reception plan was to hang on the beach and eat, but it was really windy that day, so my parents retired to their favorite Mexican restaurant in the area.


Classy

It may not have been the traditional day, but they certainly had a good time.

Mom, Aunt, Don't Know, Dad


Do you ever dream about having an offbeat wedding?  Was your parents' wedding memorable?

*Come on, someone else out there is a Hitchhiker's fan, right?

2 comments:

  1. That is SO awesome. My parents' wedding wasn't nearly as cool as that, but they did have a destination wedding in North Carolina (we're from Illinois.)

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  2. AMAZING WEDDING! I love the fashions - the bridesmaids outfits and the bathing suits - brilliant! And the whole concept of the wedding is great. Your parents are bad asses! Thanks for sharing.

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Classy Wedding by the Sea