23-year-old Eunika, who’s a Slovakian, married her Maharashtrian boyfriend of seven months Nikhil Pawar, under the Arabian Sea at Kerala’s Grove beach on Thursday – Story Pick

The ceremony took place 4 meters under water. It was organised with the help of Bond Ocean Safari in Kovalam, where Nikhil is a diving instructor.

In front of a picturesque backdrop, Nikhil and Eunika said their vows by holding up placards. Their friend doubled up as a priest.

It was a Christian wedding and the lovebirds exchanged rings and sea-shell garlands. They took off their mouth-pieces and kissed when the priest held up the placard – ‘You may now kiss the bride’.

Nikhil had a real sweet way of popping the question. On Monday, the two went for a dive and he pulled out a placard with ‘Will you marry me?’ written on it. Eunika, who is a Political Science student and had met Nikhil at Kovalam a few months ago, instantly said yes.

Before getting hitched under the Arabian Sea, the couple had had a two-day training of scuba diving and underwater breath control.

The happy couple will also have a formal wedding in Slovakia, in a few weeks. Elated Nikhil told The News Minute how the wedding plan shaped up.

“We have always wanted to do something interesting for our wedding and Eunika readily agreed when I proposed the idea of an underwater wedding. Being a regular traveler and a diving enthusiast, she quickly learnt everything and found no issues underwater. After we first met seven months ago in Kovalam, she went back to her hometown and returned a month ago. Wedding was not in the plan then, but since we were confident of taking our relationship to the next level, we decided to take the plunge.”