Shondelyn & Tyler’s SCUBA-loving aquarium wedding

Remember these Little Mermaid custom shoes that we were lovin’ on? We’ve got the whole unda da sea tale right here.

The Offbeat Bride: Shondelyn, med/surg distribution (and Tribesmaid)

Her offbeat partner: Tyler, Casino accounting manager

Date and location of wedding: Currents Ballroom at Adventure Aquarium, Camden, NJ — July 13, 2013

Our offbeat wedding at a glance: We’re both avid SCUBA divers and that’s a huge part of our life together. We decided that the aquarium would be the perfect place to show everyone the underwater world that we love so much. We even had a penguin come out during cocktail hour and our guests got to look at her and ask questions about the wildlife.

Tell us about the ceremony:
We opted to have a short and sweet ceremony that a friend officiated and went minimal on decor. I picked up the fish pedestals from Christmas Tree Shop and borrowed the centerpieces from a reception table.

The groomsmen walked out to IZ’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” My father walked me down the aisle to the acoustic version of Foo Fighters’ “Everlong.” I was so worried I was going to break down and cry if I saw anyone else getting emotional, so I locked eyes on Tyler the whole time down the aisle.

I browsed Offbeat Bride for a while and pieced together a few vows from other brides that we both really loved. We just changed a few of the words around.

Jason, our officiant, opened with this:

Today is mostly an ordinary day. The sun rose, babies were born, people slept in, and you just so happened to be getting married. But the not-so-ordinary part is how you are making promises to each other for the rest of your days, no matter how ordinary or unusual they may be.

When it was Tyler’s turn to say “I do,” he yelled “I WILL!!” It took everyone aback and had me and all the guests cracking up. After that we both relaxed and enjoyed the moment with each other.

Our vows to each other:

I promise today to be your navigator, best friend, and wife/husband; honor, love, and cherish you through all of life’s adventures. I swear to always and forever be your companion and you mine. I vow to grow old with you and to keep the kid in you alive. I take you today to be my co-captain through this life.

I did a happy dance as we were announced husband and wife, and we walked out to Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”

Our biggest challenge:
We had so many things go awry the final days before the wedding. My Maid of Honor went into labor and had a c-section Thursday morning. Unfortunately, the doctor wouldn’t let her out until Sunday, so there was no way she would be able to make the wedding.

Tyler also broke his right hand the day before the wedding. His dad rushed him up to the hospital, and thankfully the break wasn’t severe. He came back home and surprised me with a purple cast that ended up matching my dress. He didn’t know if we would be able to get his tux on, if he would be in pain, or if we could dive on our honeymoon (we were leaving that Monday). We ended up just saying “to hell with it” and made the most of it. We got some funny pictures, and it makes for one heck of a story.

My favorite moment:
We talked about what we wanted to do for the reception, and one thing that kept coming up was doing an anniversary dance. My great uncle and aunt are some of my favorite people in the world and have been married an amazing 61 years. I thought the anniversary dance would be a nice way for us to show them how much they meant to us. Of course, we were eliminated immediately and got to stand on the side and watch all these amazing people who have been together for incredible amounts of time all dancing together.

Then finally it was the moment that they were the last ones on the dance floor and they were SO surprised. They even kicked up the dancing a little notch! As a prize, I gave my aunt a bouquet with a bunch of scratch off lottery tickets pinned into the flowers. It was a really special moment for all of us.

What was the most important lesson you learned from your wedding?
My grandmom passed away just shy of two months before our wedding. It made me realize that things don’t always work out as planned. I had all these images in my head of us having fun at the wedding together and it was so painful to realize that she was gone and would never be there to see us get married. When the wedding came, I made a point to let people know how much we loved them and how grateful we were to those that we cared about and had helped us during the planning process.

Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?

• Photography:
• Gown:
• Octopus hairpiece: Steampunk Couture
• Flowers: Love ‘n Fresh Flowers
• Little Mermaid shoes: Something From The Sun
• Custom veil: Brendas Bridal Veils
• Drunk mess cake toppers: Etsy vendor Blue Butterfly Design
• Cake: Bredenbeck’s Bakery
• Wedding bands: Boone Rings
• Tentacle opal jewelry: Jared
• Makeup: Bryan Phillip Neel
• Ring bearer sword: Emilys Emporium
• Photo booth: Moxy Pix
• Crab invitations: Two Pooch Paperie
• Guestbook scuba print: Personal Posters 4U
• DJ: John Romani

Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!