Couple's Love for Diving Leads to Unique Underwater Wedding and First Dance (Exclusive)

NEED TO KNOW

• Sibylle Blumenthal and Rob Buurveld exchanged vows while diving off the coast of Mauritius on April 6

• The couple shared the same air tank during their underwater ceremony

• They eloped privately and announced their unique nuptials to family and friends afterward

A couple dove right into their marriage.

Sibylle Blumenthal and Rob Buurveld, both 55, turned the ocean into their altar on April 6, when they exchanged vows in an underwater wedding ceremony at Cap Malheureux, in the north of Mauritius.

"After 12 years of diving together, it seemed like the perfect way to get married," Blumenthal tells PEOPLE.

For the bride and groom, the ocean is their "happy place."

The pair are avid divers and met through a mutual friend. Eventually, they "fell in love through diving." Three years ago, they decided to pack up their things and move all the way to Bali from Europe so that they could "dive as much as possible" together.

When the couple finally decided to take the plunge in their relationship, they decided to do so literally, underneath the waves.

"It felt right for us," Buurveld says.

The couple eloped, just the two of them. They did their official wedding vows and paperwork on a boat before traveling to their dive site and scuba diving to the sand floor, where an arch of palm leaves and white flowers were set up waiting for them. Also in the makeshift ceremony space was a bucket of celebratory drinks and tropical plant arrangements.

Apart from putting on goggles and some weights, Blumenthal and Buurveld didn't change into traditional wetsuits and fins, and instead stayed barefoot in their formal attire. Blumenthal floated down toward Buurveld, still wearing her wedding ball gown. She even carried a bouquet of white and yellow plumeria flowers.

Seeing Blumenthal swim down the "isle" was Buurveld's favorite part.

"It felt very special but it was a bit awkward to go in the water without fins," Blumenthal admits. "The dress had small lead weights sewn into it to keep it down, I was wearing a white weight belt underneath and ankle weights."

Underwater, Blumenthal and Buurveld shared more vows (this time on laminated paper) before signaling "I do" with the official scuba "OK" hand signal. They then exchanged wedding rings, which were kept in a seashell. Afterward, they sealed their marriage with a kiss and had their first dance.

The couple shared the same air via the one scuba tank on Buurveld's back.

"Sharing air during the ceremony felt very symbolic for me," Blumenthal tells PEOPLE.

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The wedding was planned by Julia Thell of Happily Forever , photographed by Andy Michel of Ido Productions and filmed by Emperator Diving Center in Mauritius.

After their unique nuptials, Blumenthal and Buurveld called their family and friends to announce the exciting news.

"Everyone was very happy for us and thought it made total sense," the newlyweds share.

Read the original article on People