Couples are saying, “I do,” to adventure weddings

With the wedding season gearing up here, you might want to hold off on a new dress or tux. Many modern weddings are now  throwing in a twist that might have you lacing up your sneakers instead of donning heels.

As Brian and Marzi Daoust reminisce about their beautiful Caribbean wedding, their pictures showcase more than just the gorgeous views and a smiling couple, they chronicle the workouts that kept the bridal party and guests running around, literally.

“When we saw it and all the facilities that it hosted,  basketball court, rock climbing, a big tennis court,  it just clicked for us,”recalled Marzi. “We’re sports people. We like to work out.”

And so do plenty of other couples getting hitched, leading many of them to invite their guests to work up a sweat as part of the wedding festivities.

“They know I’m into this fitness thing, with the healthy lifestyle, and all of my friends kind of lead the same lifestyle as us. So they all participated. And I thank them for it,” Marzi said.

That participation can send wedding guests bouncing from casual beach games like volleyball and football to classes like spinning and yoga, even jumping into major challenges like a Tough Mudder or a 5k race. Some extreme couples are taking the adventure wedding trend to new heights, or depths, by tying the knot underwater or in freefall.

“I would say the trend is growing, and it’s because people are out experiencing life a lot deeper,” explained Laura Lukasik with Viking Travel. “People don’t want a regular wedding anymore. They want something that’s memorable, not only by the bride and groom, but also by the family and friends.”

But some of those guests are breathing a sigh of relief when savvy lovebirds take the pressure off by making activities optional.

“Grandma and Grandpa, they’re not going to be at the bungee jumping experience, the sky diving experience, but they could be on the ground having a nice breakfast as they’re jumping in the field,” Lukasik said.

Jamie Miles, managing editor of the website theknot.com, said the sharing of wedding photos on social media has motivated brides and grooms to muscle out others’ expectations and pump up their wedding with elements of their own personality.

“I think the rise in popularity of the personalization of weddings is really the result of being surrounded by inspiration,” she said. “And incorporating these different activities such as hiking the day of the wedding, or running to the summit of a mountain, exchanging vows, and running back down, might be something that you want to do because you haven’t see it before.”

As for Marzi and Brian, they say their adventure memories took more work to plan, but it was no sweat for them.

“There were some people that were hesitant to participate. But once we got them there, people had a lot of fun,” said Brian.