4 tales of unusual weddings from man who married Canadian couple in hockey rink
Ari Avivi has married people in -40 C winds and on a train bridge above a weir
When it comes to the most romantic day in the lives of many people, not everyone does it conventionally, according to Ari Avivi.
"The majority of the weddings I do are sort of traditional, standard," said the Saskatoon marriage commissioner. But many are not.
Avivi recently married a Saskatoon couple at a hockey rink, but he says he's married people under stranger circumstances.
1) 10 months pregnant
Avivi married one couple where he says "the bride was literally 10 months pregnant."
A paramedic was also contacted to be there, just in case the bride went into labour.
Avivi says his instructions were clear: "No matter what happens, she's married before the baby comes out."
"They literally said, 'if she goes onto the ambulance, you're going with her. Just hop the stretcher and we'll get 'er done.'"
2) Precarious train bridge
Avivi once married a couple on the Saskatoon train bridge, high above the South Saskatchewan river and a weir.
He told the couple they wouldn't sign the papers out on the on the bridge, and that they would do that back on shore. He recommended they also do the rings back on shore.
"They didn't choose to take my advice on that one. There's a beautiful ring somewhere in the weir."
3) Peculiar band of wedding observers
One couple approached Avivi saying they wanted to get married without anyone who knew them in attendance. He believes the reason had something to do with their faith.
The couple needed Avivi to provide everything, including witnesses.
"The running joke is, 'What do you get when you have a Jew, a Roman Catholic Priest, two First Nations gentlemen, and a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses?' And the answer is a wedding on my back deck," said Avivi.
He said it was a wonderful group of people.
4) Strange locations
Strange location requests are part of Avivi's job it seems.
He has married a couple at a local dog park out in the middle of –40 C winds.
He's married a couple on the trunk of a car on Central Avenue in Saskatoon, where the couple had met.
"It's really wherever the couple's found a special place," he said.
Did you have a strange wedding? Or have you attended one? Tell us about it and send us some pictures! Email us at saskphotos@cbc.ca or send us a message on Facebook.