Count down to shark dive wedding

A COUPLE will be married next to great white sharks at Neptune Islands next week.

The couple, from Queensland, will be the first couple to be married at the shark dive spot while under the water next Friday.

Local marriage celebrant Angela Cordon was selected to perform the underwater ceremony and said there were lots of differences between this ceremony and a more traditional one.

"I have to undertake a legal wedding and comply with the wording, so (I) will draft the ceremony in two parts," she said.

"An introduction out of the cage, then the legal part underwater.

"I'm still working on the you may now kiss your bride bit.

"I will have a practice with the couple prior to the wedding, so we can get that bit organised."

During the ceremony, Mrs Cordon will wear a mask and goggles with an ear piece for sound, as will the bride and groom.

"It will take a bit of getting used to," she said.

"I need to hold the script up higher because its harder to look down over the mask to read.

"However I was amazed how easy it was to actually hear and see the others in the cage and also to communicate with people up on the boat too."

The company did a test run with a replacement bride and groom last week, and Mrs Cordon said at first it was daunting.

"It was very daunting initially getting organised to have the dive equipment on; full wetsuit, heavy weight belt and then the mask," she said.

"And this was even before I got into the cage and got lowered underwater."

Despite this, Mrs Cordon said she was looking forward to the exciting challenge of the wedding.

"The couple are gorgeous, they are committed to getting married, but also decided to tick something off their bucket list at the same time," she said.

"I am privileged to be involved."