Taking the plunge in an underwater wedding

Madhu Suri, Contributor, Bali

Does the thought of a long, boring wedding ceremony give you nightmares? If so, dive into an underwater wedding that is fun, fast and held in exotic Bali, recommends Madhu Suri.

Lead weights lining the bottom of your wedding dress, a slate on which to write your marriage vows and a 12-meter-underwater wedding kiss. In attendance: octopuses, seahorses, schools of fish and sea anemones. And instead of the best man standing at your back, you have oxygen cylinders!

This is not a scene from some MTV video but a description of an underwater wedding that took place in Bali a few weeks ago.

The Bali International Diving Professionals (BIDP), run by expert divers Avandy and Lucianida Djunaidi, recently introduced underwater wedding packages.

"My husband is Balinese and knows the ocean very well. We wanted to make the most of our love for diving and so decided to offer underwater wedding packages. Nothing could be more distinctive than that," says Lucianida. "And the first couple that got married underwater earlier this month were our friends."

The bride and the groom are greeted with flowers at Sanur Bay. A speedboat picks them up and brings them to Nusa Lembongan, Crystal Bay (a 35-minute to 40-minute trip depending on weather conditions).

A priest accompanies the couple on the speedboat and the couple exchange their marriage vows. Then they take the plunge with an expert diver in attendance. A slate is on hand for the couple to write their "I dos" with special pens. The wedding rings and a kiss are then exchanged.

The kiss, of course, is limited to the couple's lung capacity: basically, however long they can last without their oxygen masks. (And if the ring floats away, an attendant swims after it.)

"We were picked up from our hotel at 7:30 a.m. and taken to the beach where we were greeted by the priest and witnesses with a necklace of white frangipani flowers and cool, fresh face towels. We then had coffee and croissants on the beach as we waited for the tide and then we set off to be married," says Mandie Perry, who recently got married underwater.

"I wore a white veil with pearls inlaid in the net over my dive suit. My husband just wore his dive suit," says Perry.

When the couple resurfaced and got back on board the speedboat, they signed the official wedding register. The speedboat then took the just married couple to a tastefully romantic champagne lunch back on shore.

The package, which cost $1,200, consists of two dives, lunch, all the equipment, a priest, a dive master, marriage certificates and registration, transportation to and from the hotel and wedding/dive location, the marriage service, a bottle of champagne, a picnic lunch, water lilies, veil and witnesses. Accommodation is not included.

For the legal side of the weddings, BIDP works with Bali- Weddings International (BWI), an Indonesian company that specializes in weddings. They take care of securing the necessary licenses and any other paperwork required to make the marriage legal. The witnesses are from BWI.

The location/dive points for the wedding depend on the weather and first-time divers are given practice runs in a swimming pool.

According to Lucianida, who operated a booth at the recent Tourism Indonesia Mart & Expo in Jakarta, there has been some interest in the underwater wedding package from Brazil and from some Indonesians.

"It's just a question of time before the idea catches on. We need to promote it in different markets, especially to the Japanese," she said.

And even as the hunt for a diving vicar and waterproof wedding dress goes on, Lucianida plans to get remarried under water. Of course, to the same husband. Only the venue will change from a church to 2,000 meters under the sea, in an octopuses' garden, under the waves.

Getting Wet

Name of package: UnderWater Weddings in Paradise

Price: $1,200. Underwater video & land photography extra. Price covers cost of two dives and dive master. Accommodation is extra.

Reservations: At least three weeks. But try to book far in advance or the boat, priest and dive company may be fully booked.

Contact: Bali International Diving Professionals

Jl. Sekar Waru No. 9

Sanur 80238

Bali, Indonesia

Tel: 62 (0) 361 27059

Fax: 62 (0) 361 270760 Website: http://www.bidp-balidiving.com