november / december 2006:

Taking the plunge
Three ocean themed wedding halls offer something out of the box for Jewish brides and grooms.

By Tina Barry | Photo by Ric Mershon



Deciding to spend the rest of your life with someone is no small thing. Coming up with an appropriate setting to celebrate the union is nearly as important. Restaurants, wedding halls, and hotel banquet rooms can be lovely for the big reception, but for many nearly-weds, those venues are simply too traditional.

Destination weddings have become popular among celebrities who have no trouble arranging for private planes and taking 200 of their nearest and dearest to the Fiji Islands. For the rest of us, who like the idea of exotic travel but prefer to hold our fetes in this country and view “taking the plunge” as a literal not just metaphorical adage, here are three unique sites that bring the sea world to the party.

When Bernie Marcus, the co-founder of the Home Depot opened the 500,000 square-foot Georgia Aquarium last year, he offered visitors more than a watery wonderland. With his gift to the people of Atlanta, Marcus provided one of the most unique wedding spots in the country: The Oceans Ballroom, an event space with the kind of scenic view only a deep sea diver has experienced.

The 16,400 square-foot space includes two huge viewing windows where guests are awarded a ringside seat. Behind the glass are 100,000 exotic fish who perform their ever-changing aquatic dance and four wedding guests that will never make it to the Viennese dessert table: Ralph, Alice, Trixie and Norton, Beluga whales the size of Mac trucks.

All that sounds exciting, but after you’ve spent thousands of dollars to pull off an event at this venue, will the scenery upstage the nuptials? Donna Fleishman, the public relations director for the aquarium, advises near-brides not to worry. “Curtains can be drawn around the windows at any time,” she says. “It would be traumatic if guests shouted ‘Look at the whale!’ when the bride enters.”

A Jewish wedding with a backdrop of seafood? It’s kosher assures Fleishman. With none other than Wolfgang Puck’s catering company overseeing the kosher kitchen (there’s a regular kitchen, too), you don’t have to worry about them serving lobster. “People love the environment,” says Puck. “They love the fish. It’s really novel.” The catering service’s executive chef, Mark Brickman, is happy to serve fish, even if it makes the live sea creatures want to turn tail and swim. Scratch Chilean sea bass off your wish list though. The chefs will only offer species from sustainable sources, and the sea bass is on the endangered list.

The square footage at the Mystic Aquarium Institute for Exploration in Connecticut may be less grand than the Georgia Aquarium, but hosting a wedding reception there offers a Poseidon worthy experience.

In the main exhibit room where wedding parties are held, attendees are treated to a virtual theatre in the round of tanks and exhibition windows. Behind the displays are 30,000 tropical fish, sharks, even iguanas and bats. Says Mike Lee, the executive sous chef at the aquarium, “regular wedding halls can get kind of old. Here people have something to see during the entire party.”

While there’s no kosher kitchen on the premises, the menu options are lavish with carving and pasta stations and, included in the “smoked and cured fish emporium.” Expect a moment of silence from the entertainers in the tanks when the fish is sliced.

Jules’ Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida, is for brides and grooms who take their underwater experience seriously. To get to the lodge, the couple and four of their closest friends, must dive 21 feet down to reach the “lobby.”

When the couple enters the world’s only underwater hotel, they’re greeted with flowers, champagne, and a selection of appetizers. A notary public, who dives down for the nuptial service, performs the ceremony. If you have a clergy with a scuba certificate you can B.Y.O.R. (bring your own rabbi). The venue, which was featured on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, may not rival the Grand Hyatt for ambience, but the two large windows in the Common Room where wedding parties are held, offers an unparalleled view.

The facility has a small, non-kosher kitchen overseen by a “mer-chef.” They offer a simple meal of meat or lobster (obviously not for a kosher wedding party), potato, vegetable and wedding cake. “Wedding parties can bring their own food as long as it can be boxed and taken underwater,” says Teresa McKinna, the lodge’s vice president. The fee for the service, meal, and accommodations, includes an Aquanaut Certificate. Marriage licenses should be arranged prior to arrival.

Before the dress is fitted, the caterer is selected and the invitations go out, you’ll want to have the best photographer lined up. Having less than spectacular pictures of an event in any of these spots would be an insult to mother nature.


If you'd like to comment on this article, email us a Letter to the Editor.