"You're not taking me for a ride, are you Honeybunny?"

Civil marriages in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have had to be performed in utilitarian register offices or, since 1995, in specially licensed venues.

While there are several thousand such premises, including the London Eye, the current licensing procedure is an obstacle to those wanting to select an unlikely venue of meaning only to them.

Changes to the law will allow "celebrants" - the person conducting the ceremony - to marry couples anywhere, provided the venue is safe, public and "appropriate".

Going to the chapel?

While some couples will always hanker after the flouncy meringue dresses and horse-drawn carriages of the traditional wedding, the new regulations will allow others to indulge alternative plans.

The caveat that venues be "safe" may prevent the sort of ceremony enjoyed by Americans Brenda and Dennis McGlynn.

The pair wed on California's 750-foot-high Foresthill Bridge. Following the "I do's", Mr and Mrs McGlynn plunged over the parapet in a highly dangerous BASE (Building, Antennae, Span, Earth) parachute jump.

"Sorry, Debbie, I can't go through with it"

"Nobody had ever done a BASE jump at a wedding. We got together because of the sport, and it's such a big part of our lives that we wanted to incorporate it into our wedding," said Mrs McGlynn.

Though a five-second freefall might not be every newlywed's cup of tea, British bride Avril Blades can't recommend the virtues of a offbeat wedding enough.

"It's an experience you'll never forget," says Mrs Blades, who in 1998 married fianc� David in the world's first "dolphin" wedding.

"We'd both been married before and wanted something a bit special," she told BBC News Online.

Out of your depth

Seeing PR gold in this wedding first, the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism pulled out all the stops to accommodate the couple.

"I was shocked when we arrived at the lagoon at Paradise Island. I'd expected it to be a few feet deep. It was 60 foot to the sea bed and I'm not a strong swimmer."

Also, rather than merely frolicking around the life jacketed wedding party, the dolphins were enlisted to take central roles in the ceremony.

"This is the best stag do ever!"

"Princess was on one side of me and Dot was on the other, as my bridesmaids. Both were in the film Flipper and were very friendly. Shawn - who was only 18 months old - was the Best Man. He brought the ring out to us in a box held in his mouth."

Wacky weddings are not without their difficulties, of course.

"We had to get someone to hold onto the man performing the ceremony," says Mrs Blades. "He kept floating away."