• May 16, 1988
• Vol. 29
• No. 19

What Do You Say When a Bride and Groom Exchange Their Vows in Wet Suits? That's a Moray!

Bill Barrow and Ruthie Schrenzel, both 22, recently discovered there's at least one advantage to marrying underwater: You can't back out of it. When the two wed at the Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary in Florida, they exchanged vows by passing a diving slate to each other and checking off the "I do" box. Even if they had wanted them, there were no options for "No," "Not sure" or for otherwise deep-sixing the affair.

If you love to dive—and Bill is a professional instructor, while Ruthie, a cost analyst at a local bank, is an avid amateur—there's the added benefit of marrying in your own element. Besides, the price was right. Since Bill works for the woman who performed the ceremony—notary public and diving center owner Amy Slate—she let him have her boat rent-free.

The bride wore a one-piece pink suit with matching mask, regulator and fins. She also wore a lace veil and tied a train of netting and lace around her waist. The groom wore a black tie with his scuba gear. Twenty suitably attired guests attended, along with several moray eels. Drier rites took place the next day, and the couple then left for their honeymoon—a seven-day Caribbean cruise. Yes, they took their diving gear.