While some couples wed in quiet little ceremonies in a courthouse or a backyard, some couples choose to go a bit bigger. For those ambitious affianced pairs, their wedding becomes a chance to go big, go wild, go extreme, and possibly just go bizarre.
There’s no end to the strange destinations and ceremonies that the betrothed have planned for themselves and forced their loved ones to endure in many cases. Of strange wedding destinations, we’d say the sky is the limit, but our number one entry proves even that barrier can be breached.
This list brings together ten of the most surprising, strangest, and most extreme destination weddings in history. Depending on your taste, these entries may either horrify or entice you; if you start planning anything, choose wisely.
# Under the SeaIt’s true: you can arrange an entire wedding ceremony beneath the sea, with full scuba gear atop your suit and gown.
There are dozens of companies that offer underwater marriages in gorgeous marine settings off of the Bahamas, Thailand, Bali, Hawaii, the Great Barrier Reef, and more. They can be held while swimming or standing, but most couples find it easiest to kneel together on the seafloor. The most obvious tradeoff for such a unique and magical experience is the inability to speak or hear underwater, so ceremonies are usually conducted through a series of pre-written cue cards. And the first kiss as spouses? Well, I guess they have to wait until they are on dry land to do that.
# Dracula’s CastleA true fairytale wedding is possible, as long as the fairytale you’re thinking of involves vampires.
Bran Castle, widely known as Dracula’s Castle, is the perfect wedding venue for couples looking to conduct their nuptials in a historic, imposing castle. Though Dracula was, of course, not real, and though his real-life inspiration Vlad the Impaler, may not have even lived in Bran Castle, the site has nonetheless developed an association with all things vampiric over the centuries. Regardless of its historical authenticity, both the castle’s interior and exterior look the eerie part and then some.
# Dolphin ReefSharon Tendler’s wedding is one of the strangest. She married on a dock at Israel’s Dolphin Reef, which in and of itself is a gorgeous destination. What made the wedding strange was that, while Tendler stood on the dock, the groom spent the entire ceremony in the water beside her. He had to, after all, because he was a dolphin.
Sharon defended her choice in grooms, stating, “It’s not a perverted thing. I do love this dolphin. He’s the love of my life… It’s not a bad thing. It’s just something that we did because I love him, but not in the way that you love a man. It’s just a pure love that I have for this animal.”
# Mount EverestIt’s important to note that there have been several weddings at Mount Everest, and they fall into two very different categories: weddings at base camp and weddings at the summit. While several adventurous pairs have joined in matrimony at one of Everest’s base camps- which are already no small feat to access—one couple went a step further. Actually, thousands of steps further, as they wed at the very peak of Mount Everest.
Nepalese couple Moni Mulepati and Pem Dorjee exchanged vows at Everest’s peak, more than 29,000 feet in the air. Due to the cold and lack of oxygen, the entire ceremony lasted less than ten minutes. The two quickly removed their oxygen masks, donned plastic garlands, performed their parts, and hastily began their descent down the mountain.
# SpaceAs strange as it sounds, there have already been multiple engagements and even marriages held in outer space. Even stranger, there are at least a few dozen more astral marriages planned for the near future. The only requirements are that participants be actual, professional astronauts or shell out a few hundred thousand dollars.
There are a number of different space weddings that have taken place. There was the wedding of Ekaterina Dmitriev to Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko. Dmitriev said “I do” to a cardboard cutout of Malenchenko while he videoed conferenced in from the International Space Station.