For our recent Las Vegas wedding-moon (a honeymoon trip that also incorporated the actual wedding ceremony), we wanted to stray off the beaten path. While there's a multitude of glamorous (and not-so-glamorous) wedding chapels, to fit most everyone's taste, personality and budget, we wanted to do something very memorable, something unique.

Since we both grew up at the beach, we've both had a lifelong long of the sea and for aquatic animals. So when we learned that we could get married in an aquarium, we knew this was the perfect fit for us.

To learn more about scheduling a wedding at the Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay, I contacted the events staff via the Mandalaybay.com website. Within only a couple of hours, I received a phone call back from a very pleasant, friendly young woman, who as it turned out would be my wedding coordinator through the planning process, as well as on the big day. She was able to answer all of my initial questions, and promptly emailed me all the pertinent information, including a contract and pricing.

Shark Reef weddings are held only once per day, at 9:00 a.m. (the reef opens to the public at 10:00 a.m., so weddings must be complete before that time).

The price (as of September 2008) to have a wedding in the Shark Reef was (to us) reasonable -- at $1175, it was in-line (if not significantly less expensive that) with many traditional chapels. The package included:

- Officiant for the ceremony
- Photographer (with a set number of prints, in an album)
- Marriage certificate frame/holder
- Bottle of Champagne
- Pair of Champagne flutes
- Bride's Bouquet
- Groom's Boutonnière
- Music prior to and during the ceremony (pianist)

Once we sent in the signed contract with the deposit, my wedding coordinator was very attentive, keeping regular communication via email and by phone. She provided worksheets for choosing our music, the color/design of my bouquet (which I opted to upgrade) and photography package upgrades. This made it very easy to handle most everything via fax or email during the planning process.

Prior to the wedding date, I was given instructions to meet the coordinator and the Officiate 40 minutes prior to the start of the ceremony, just to go over the order of ceremony, etc... This meeting is held in the bride's room (my husband was in the groom's room, next door, though they did manage to keep us from seeing each other at all prior to the ceremony) at the Chapel (which is located just around the corner from the entrance to the Shark Reef).

I found the bride's room to be very pleasant, calming and comfortable. While they ask that you arrive ready (or nearly ready), there is a well-lit mirrored make-up table for last minute touch-ups.

At 2 minutes to ceremony time, the coordinator whisked me in a back entrance to the Reef (while my family, my groom, the officiate, the photographer and the pianist, were waiting in a 'room' within the aquarium). The "aisle" is actually a tunnel that goes under the aquarium itself, so as you're walking down the aisle, you have various fish and sharks swimming in the cool blue waters overhead.

The ceremony "room" itself was fairly small, and softly (but not dim) lit, with a backdrop of more swimming sealife. The officiate was warm and friendly, and performed a very contemporary ceremony (sans "honor and obey" and the like). The entire scene was just breathtaking.

Following the ceremony, the photographer did a few formal portraits with our family, and then the coordinator lead them back to the chapel offices to wait for us, so we could finish out the photo shoot (we upgraded an additional hour of photography time).

While we didn't get to really linger for much time at each exhibit, we did see a wonderful array of stingrays, large pacu, sharks and a Komodo dragon. There's also a "sunken ship" viewing window of the deeper part of the shark tank. The combination of blue waters, rustic looking stone, and tropical gardens made for an excellent backdrop for our wedding photos.

All in all, it was a perfect day, and a very unique manner in which to celebrate our big day. It is absolutely a day we will never forget, and I would wholeheartedly recommend this to any Vegas-bound couples looking for a unique way to celebrate their marriage.