Shaadi ke water effects!

The wedding is no longer the mandap, flower and puja routine, it’s about diving into deep waters, quite literally!

Planning to get married and want to do something different? Then go jump, quite literally! Fed up with the usual wedding venues and shoot destinations, some Bengalureans have decided to go below the surface to get their prized pictures and moments. Welcome to underwater weddings and shoots.

Though Anushree Kini Singh, a dancer and Pavan Singh, a restaurateur’s wedding was a regular affair, the duo wanted a quirky post-marriage shoot. So they jumped into their apartment complex’s pool for their pictures. “It was freezing cold. But, we wanted to do something crazy,” she says.

Thankfully, they are both decent swimmers! Anup K Kattukaran, a filmmaker and a wedding photographer, confirms the demand for underwater shoots.

The father-to-be adds, “Every couple wants an offbeat shoot that is different from the rest. I have done a quite a few such shoots and they are immense fun.”

Incidentally, when he and Carin Loren got married, they too dived into the pool to get some funky photos among the ripples and the tiny waves in the pool.

What’s really endearing is the extent to which these couples are willing to go. Sheena Benedicta, another photographer from the city, lay on the hot shore of Mangalore for almost 25 minutes before she got her perfect picture.

“The idea was to get a picture where the waves become a part of my dress. But to my luck, the waves went everywhere but to me. By the end, I was a roasted chicken,” recalls Sheena, who got married two months ago.

But that is not where the story ends, Sheena and her husband Kiran Kutinha, then jumped straight into the pool fully suited and booted. “I jumped in with the gown and my trail while Kiran jumped in his tux, shoes and bow. It is one of the most beautiful pictures we have,” she smiles.

Now, if you thought that was something, wait till you hear another Bengalurean couple’s story.

“When Vikas and I started talking about our wedding, we both came to a conclusion that a traditional wedding was not for us. The underwater wedding really got us excited. So we had our ceremony 36 ft underwater in Maldives! Along with a local priest, we dived the first time for the vows, and then exchanged rings before finally diving the third time for our first kiss,” Ritika M beams.

In case you thought that these weddings could drill a hole in your pocket, Nihal Thomas, the VP for My Shaadi Wale, a city-based matrimony site clarifies, “The underwater wedding is like a fantasy and something that is done for fun.

“The couples have the official ceremony in the traditional manner, but do this to create a memory. Normally, it’s just the couple and maybe a friend or two so it isn’t expensive. The only added expense is travelling to the location.”

Seems like destinations weddings are making way for fantasy ones.