Aquatics Venues Hear Wedding Bells

hen people talk about taking the plunge on their wedding day, they don’t usually mean racing down a giant water slide or leaping into a pool. But as couples look for ways to make their weddings stand apart from traditional, ho-hum ceremonies, that’s exactly what some are doing.

It’s lovers’ leap for a new generation — and aquatics venues can cash in on the craze simply by marketing facilities for the occasion.

Six Flags Elitch Gardens in Denver has done exactly that for the past five years in conjunction with a local radio station. Each year, five couples are chosen for the “Taking the Plunge” event. Brides wear white swimsuits and grooms wear black trunks. The local DJ, who is also licensed to marry couples, presides over the ceremony at the top of the water slide steps before sending the happy couple down the slide in their double-tubes. The maid-of-honor and best man follow suit, said Tara Tongco, park spokesperson.

After the ride, the newlyweds celebrate their nuptials with a guest-filled reception. This year’s cake, flowers and a weekend getaway at Steamboat Springs were all donated by local businesses. The rings, too, were given by a local jewelry store.

The Beach Waterpark in Mason, Ohio, also hosts a “Take the Plunge” event. Ten couples stand knee-deep in the heated spa at “The Pearl” section of the park, while an ordained minister unites them for eternity. Afterward, families and guests join them for appetizers and cake, and the tossing of bouquets and garters.

“The people who were involved thought it was a really neat event and something they would always remember,” said Tara Nahrup, marketing manager at the Beach. In a separate promotion at the Pearl, it also threw a dry wedding for a couple where the groom was being sent to Iraq.

Both parks worked in conjunction with local radio stations to select the lucky couples from a large applicant list.

Waterparks are not the only wet venues for swimmingly happy couples. In April, the McMurtrey Aquatic Center in Bakersfield, Calif., united a couple at 14 feet deep in its Olympic-size outdoor pool, in an effort to break the Guinness Book of World Records for the most guests in an underwater wedding. The current record is 112.

The couple believes they broke the record, but that wasn’t the only thing for the books.

“It was the first time we had done anything like that,” said center director Beigher Taylor. “They had a trellis … underwater and put buoys on top of the water lining the aisle, and one or two more adornments. Mind you, this is all on the bottom of the pool on the deep end.”

An underwater mike was set up for guests to listen to the service, in and out of the water. Several search-and-rescue volunteers stood around the pool in case any guests below had trouble.

Of course, after all that swimming, people were hungry. So a full reception was held at the facility after the new husband and wife and their record-breaking number of guests re-emerged.

Weddings create an excellent source of PR for facilities, as was enjoyed by Taylor’s aquatic center, which is a new facility. “We were excited for the opportunity to have something like this, and the opportunity for media and advertisement. It was nice to provide something different for the community.”

Taylor has received requests for weddings at the facility, though none to the same extent as that one. “We’ve had a lot of people express interest in new places to have their receptions, even without using the water, just having the pool as a backdrop,” he said.

Nahrup agrees. “People are talking about it throughout the market,” she said. “It’s definitely not for everybody, but the people who were involved really liked it.”