FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Getting married can be an elaborate, stressful affair. Now try it 20 feet under water — and make it a Jewish wedding, where the groom is expected to smash a wrapped glass under his heel.

No problem, says Debbi Ballard. The ordained Jewish cantor is training at a Fort Lauderdale scuba shop to perform underwater ceremonies where the groom can smash a lightbulb with his flipper and the couple drink wine out of a sippy cup.

"Not everyone is cut out for a white wedding," said Ballard, 47.

Pro Dive International, which plans to offer underwater ocean weddings in the next few months, is looking for other pastors and clergy willing to take the plunge.

On a recent dive, Ballard tested a dive mask with a microphone that will allow her to talk to the bride and groom while guests on a boat watch a video hook-up.

Unconventional weddings are gaining popularity, said Jannette Alix, president of a local chapter of the National Association of Wedding Professionals.

Underwater weddings have been done before, but a Jewish one is rare, she said.

"There's a new breed of people that want something unique," Alix said. "The old-fashioned way is old fashioned."

As long as certain traditions are kept, the ocean wedding could be legal according to Jewish law, said Reform Rabbi Barry Silver, of L'Dor Va-Dor congregation in Boynton Beach, Fla.

The idea of underwater religious nuptials came six months ago to Pro Dive owner Doug Huberman and his wife. They planned to retake their wedding vows in their scuba gear and thought to make it a business venture. He expects to invest about $50,000, and offer wedding packages starting around $1,500. Huberman says he doesn't expect it to be a huge money-maker. And the ministers he wants have to be a special breed.

"We are looking for people who want to be pioneers," he said.

Ballard is one of them.

She has performed weddings for five years, but never considered learning to scuba dive until Huberman proposed the idea about a month ago.

"I thought, 'Oh my God this is crazy,' " said Ballard, who officiated at Huberman's wedding in St. Croix more than three years ago.

Now Ballard is hooked. She's even open to the idea of getting married underwater one day herself.

"Somebody else will have to officiate it for me," she said. "You can't marry yourself."