Want to get married in a unique wedding venue that’s as unique as the two of you? Forget the same place and go for something wet, wild, or crazy.
Wet
You have many options when it comes to water weddings. You can have an underwater wedding in Hawaii, a snorkeling wedding in the Caribbean, or a wedding on a sailboat in Chicago. Or you can go a little further and opt for something truly unique: a wedding at the only underwater hotel in the world.
The Jules’ Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida is truly underwater, and guests have to dive 21 feet below the surface of the sea and enter through an opening in the bottom of the lodge. Wedding ceremonies take place inside the lodge, which consists of a wet room entrance area, two bedrooms, and a common room, which is a combination of kitchen, dining room, and living room. Imagine having your honeymoon underwater, curled up in your bed while watching the fish pass by your window.
Your wedding ceremony is performed by a notary public, who dives in for the service, followed by a toast and the cutting of the cake, which, yes, has been kept dry. For dinner you are offered a caviar appetizer and a choice of two main courses, lobster or steak and a palm heart salad and dessert. Your food is prepared by a chef who is immersed in the lodge. The chef will also dive into the lodge the next morning and prepare breakfast. Jules’ Undersea Lodge wedding is perfect for those who want to elope to an unusual place.
The cost of the Jules’ Undersea Lodge is $ 1,495 plus tax. If you have additional guests attending the wedding, you will be charged an additional $ 60 per guest. Call (305) 451-2353 for more information.
Wild
What could be wilder than a shotgun wedding or a haunted hotel wedding?
With a wedding and honeymoon in Oatman, Arizona, you get both. Where is Oatman, you ask? It is a historic ghost town 20 miles southeast of Laughlin, Nevada, formerly a thriving mining town during the gold rush. Today, Oatman is a resort town with daily wild west shootouts and shotgun weddings. Oatman is also where the Oatman Hotel is located, where, in 1939, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard spent their wedding night.
The Oatman Hotel is said to be haunted by numerous spirits, including, according to some, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, a former waitress and an Irish miner who once lived there. Hotel staff and guests are said to have heard the spirits of Gable and Lombard laugh from their honeymoon room. There are also reports of the sound of bagpipes coming from the room of the Irish miner, whose spirit is known as “Oatie”.
For information on shotgun weddings, you can call 928-768-8063 or 928-768-3839. For reservations at The Oatman Hotel, you can call 928-768-4408.
Another wedding venue that many consider haunted is Thayer’s historic Bed and Breakfast in Annandale, Minnesota, which is owned by a psychic, Sharon Gammell. Thayer’s specializes in interactive mystery dinners, ghost hunting, psychic readings, and little weddings, which, if desired, can be officiated by Gammell. Built in 1895, Thayer’s Historic Bed and Breakfast is said to be home to several ghosts, including the original owners, Caroline and Gus Thayer, and some of their friends. And, for cat lovers, Thayer’s is also home to three resident ghost cats (as well as some live cats).
Annandale is just over an hour’s drive from the Twin Cities International Airport. For more information, call 800-944-6595.
Crackpot
For one of the craziest wedding experiences, try Star Trek the Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton, where you can have your ceremony on the bridge of the USS Enterprise 1701-D. Your minister will conduct your wedding ceremony dressed in Starfleet costumes while intergalactic wedding music plays in the background. Depending on the wedding package you choose, you can choose from one to three Star Trek characters present at your wedding: Klingon, Ferengi, or BORG.
You can also choose to have your wedding reception inside Quark’s Bar or in the Captain’s Lounge, depending on the size of your wedding party. You can choose from different reception menus, but I would definitely go for the Romulan Warbird, which is a marinated chicken breast served with wild rice pilaf and seasonal vegetables. The wedding cakes come with the Star Trek logo.
Hopefully, some of the wedding ideas above will appeal to you or make you think of other creative and unique ways to celebrate your wedding. Maybe wet, wild and crazy weddings are not your thing. Maybe what you want is to escape to Hawaii or Las Vegas. Whatever you decide to do, make it special.
