A bride and groom have had their dream wet-wedding day in an underwater ceremony under the Indian Ocean.
Chris and Janet Wright floated down the aisle happily drenched from head to toe as they exchanged their vows in a unique under-the-sea service in the Maldives.
The watery wedding took place nearly 40 feet under the surface with an aisle edged with fish statues, flowers drifting with the tide and a stage with the couples names written in a heart.
After 20 years together, the couple — both keen scuba divers — got hitched surrounded by fellow vacationers and inquisitive fish.
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Chris and Janet Wright are hard-core scuba divers and wanted a memorable ceremony under the sea.
The ceremony was witnessed by a group of submerged guests with Thomas Taylor as ring bearer, Carol Bielfeld as tutu-clad bridesmaid and friend Lisa Taylor as photographer.
After the ceremony, oxygen tanks were uncorked, sending clouds of bubbles to the ocean surface.
“It was totally amazing, they’d created a whole stage area with a swinging seat, it was completely magical,” the 58-year-old bride said.
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‘I was hoping she wouldn’t keep me waiting at the altar — if she had been too long I might have run out of air,’ Chris Wright (left) said.
“There were curtains and flowers, there was an aisle to swim up and a big welcome sign.
“My big day was incredibly special, I couldn’t imagine a better setting for our wedding.”
As the pair could not speak under the water, they held up signs asking if they would take each other in holy matrimony.
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‘My big day was incredibly special, I couldn’t imagine a better setting for our wedding,’ Janet Wright (right) said.
Chris and Janet each held up cards reading “I do,” and then removed their regulators to kiss under the water.
“I was hoping she wouldn’t keep me waiting at the altar — if she had been too long I might have run out of air,” the groom said.
“If you’re into scuba diving, I would recommend getting married underwater.
“It was just awesome and well worth doing.”
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The bride and groom (along with the person officiating the wedding) had to hold up signs during the exchang of vows.
The couple emerged into the tropical sunlight and toured the island on a catamaran with a “just married” sail before heading back to their room for champagne and cake.
“We’ve been together for 20 years so we just thought it was time we should get married,” Chris, a chartered accountant, said.
“We’ve been scuba diving for years and we thought, ‘Why don’t we get married out here? How nice it would be to have an underwater wedding ceremony.’
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After the underwater ceremony, the pair partied on a boat.
“It was the island’s first underwater marriage and we can’t thank our diving instructor Ibrahim Shaan and his team, together with Voytec, Max and the staff of Centara Grand Island Resort and Spa, enough for organizing it.”
The couple started diving more than a decade ago and loves the warm waters of the Indian Ocean.
The couple, who were staying at Centara Grand Island Resort and Spa in South Ari Atoll, had been on 26 dives on the trip, but instructors steered them away from the stage while it was being set up.
“The diving around Centara Grand is amazing, the house reef is good and teeming with life,” Chris said.
“You put your head underwater and you’re in a different world.”
Janet and Chris were officially married at a ceremony with family and friends at the Registry Office near their home in Cottingham, East Yorks.
[NYDailyNews]