American Couple to Wed on Titanic

By Stephen M. Silverman

07/17/2001 at 11:46 AM EDT

New York couple David Leibowitz and Kimberley Miller intend to say "I do" in a mini submarine perched on the sunken remains of the Titanic's bow some 2.5 miles under the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, they've announced. The idea reputedly arose after Leibowitz won a competition offering a dive to the Titanic organized by British diving company, SubSea Explorer. "David was getting married in four months time, so we asked him would you like to get married on the Titanic, and they said, 'Providing it's not turned into a circus we would be delighted,' " SubSea CEO Gary Allsopp told Reuters. The entire expedition, which departs Canada on July 26, is said to be costing SubSea $560,000 -- but think of the publicity. Not that this is sitting well with everybody. "It is despoiling the memory of the 1,500 people who died and whose bodies are still down in the Titanic," said Brian Ticehurst of the British Titanic Society. "There is a lot of controversy about it," Allsopp admitted. "People say, 'Are you happy to go back to a graveyard?' And my retort is (that) a graveyard is one of the most peaceful and tranquil places I can go and walk and have a look."