Underwater wedding festival for Valentine's

13 Feb 2012

Six couples exchanged marriage vows on Saturday at an underwater wedding festival in southern Thailand. The ceremony participants donned wetsuits, scuba tanks and masks before pledging undying love to their partner 12 metres below the surface of the sea at the Trang festival.

The ceremony, which saw a mix of Thai and foreign brides and grooms wed, is the 16^th organised by Trang Chamber of Commerce. Because Valentine’s Day did not fall on the weekend this year, the three-day festival kicked off last Friday when the couples arrived and planted SriTrang trees at the regional Thung Khai botanic centre.

On Saturday, the couples dived underwater for their formal wedding ceremony. The marriage certificates formalising the nuptials were also signed below the surface, while one couple removed their mouthpieces for a quick underwater kiss.

Besides the actual underwater wedding, couples also put on traditional hand-woven Thai outfits on dry land and are escorted to honeymoon suites by other long-married and happy couples. This essential final part of a southern wedding is believed to bring long-lasting love and happiness to the newly-weds.

Following the mass-marriage, the festival grand finale took place at Rajamonkol Beach where the couples enjoyed a wedding feast with heritage music and dancing as well as a colourful fireworks display.

The festival organiser’s website provides full details of this unique method of getting married. Although the focus of the Trang wedding ceremony is tying the knot underwater, couples not wishing to do this can enjoy a traditional Buddhist marriage ceremony on terra firma.

Tags: Underwater wedding festival