DAYTON– For most newlyweds, it’s officially known as “the first dance.” For Cindy and Justin McKenzie, it was “the first skate.”

The couple, gliding to their wedding vows on ice skates, was married on Jan. 20, 2011, at RiverScape Metro Park ice rink.

Like many of today’s brides and grooms, the West Carrollton couple chose a wedding site that had special meaning for their relationship. They’d had their first date at the downtown Dayton rink and were delighted to discover it could be rented for their nuptials.

But what’s ideal for one couple may not be right for another, say experts. So it’s no wonder more couples are choosing to do their own thing. They marry at laundromats, bowling alleys, atop rock-climbing walls. They marry on horseback and underwater.

Sara and Robin Kasten of Tipp City invited guests to enjoy their wedding at 33,000 feet in the air. Both worked for the airlines and decided it would be fun to be married on United Airlines Flight 337 from Anchorage to Fairbanks.

“We were married in Row 9 when they turned the seat belt sign off,” Sara relates. “We had a party at a pub when we got to Fairbanks during a four-hour layover, then everyone flew back to Anchorage.” Their boss performed the ceremony and the airline provided champagne and a wedding cake.

“When you choose an unusual venue for your wedding site, you add a dimension of the unexpected that guests enjoy,” says wedding maven Sharon Naylor.

“Your wedding isn’t an identical match to the ballroom weddings your local friends hosted, with just the colors and florals different.”

Naylor, author of “Your Wedding, Your Way” says that a wedding held at a winery, for instance, creates a unique vibe with its architecture, wooden beams, gorgeous vineyards and gardens, and the wine and food pairings that are so popular now.

She says museums have also become a trendy wedding venues because they deliver visual interest at every turn.

“I’m a big fan of unique museums, such as Madame Tussauds in New York City,” says Naylor, who lives in New Jersey. “You can arrange for guests to take fun photos with the wax sculptures of celebrities.”

A Dayton venue that’s similar is the Packard Museum, where wedding guests can pose with vintage cars.

Mary and Ran Raider found a lot more than books at Wright State’s Paul Laurence Dunbar Library.

They also found romance.

The two full-time library employees married under the replica of the Wright Flyer with the whole staff involved with the preparations. Rowdy Raider, related only by employment, was an invited guest but couldn’t make it.

“It was a really beautiful wedding and an especially meaningful one for the WSU Libraries, since both (more…)