Let’s face it: weddings just ain’t what they used to be.

Like curtseys, penny farthings and the word ‘whatnot’, the traditional nuptials of yesteryear all seem a bit, well, old-fashioned. Perhaps it’s the idea of eternal wedlock that lets peoples’ inhibitions loose, but the fact is, white dresses and wedding bells simply won’t cut it any more; we want something different. We want wookie ministers. Ceremonies on ice. Vows in space. And we want it now.

So where has this new-found liberation led us? Across the globe, people continue to push the frontiers of the wedding to new, ambitious and possibly naked heights. Recorded here are eight of the very strangest.

The Star Wars Wedding

OK, so you’re thinking alternative. Wacky. You’re not a conformer – you’re an innovator. So what do you do? Well, you dress up as the most reviled character from the Star Wars canon and force your close family and friends to join you in what has to be the nerdiest wedding ceremony known to man.

The Mass Wedding

Weddings are a special occasion. A once-in-a-lifetime experience. Unique, you might say.

Which is why it might seem just a little bit strange to share your ‘Big Day’ with 39,999 other couples. But, on February 7, 1999, that’s exactly what happened. In the grounds of South Korea’s Great Olympics Stadium, and under the direction of the very enthusiastic and very wealthy Rev Sun Myung Moon, 40,000 brides and grooms were officially brought together in holy matrimony – many for the very first time in their lives.

Then, each couple was asked to hit one other on the buttocks three times with a wooden paddle.

“The more you love your partner, the harder you will hit,” officials advised. “Just imagine your spouse is a big baby.”

The Funeral Wedding

“‘I’m going to marry Kevin,’ I told Mum when I got home.

“Mum looked confused.”

That would probably be because, by this point, Kevin had been dead for 5 days.

Still, that didn’t stop Michelle Lavelle marrying her partner’s remains at an unofficial ceremony held within the mortuary. Accompanied by bridesmaids, friends and relatives, Michelle, from Liverpool, stood beside Kevin – concealed beneath a sheet – as the priest blessed the pair. Michelle then gave Kevin the ring and, leaning over, concluded the ceremony by kissing the near week-old corpse goodbye.

The ‘Sorry, Could You Speak Up?’ Wedding

Love is blind, they say. Which doesn’t leave you with much if you’re the groom of this particular wedding.

The fact that he uttered not a single word to his wife-in-waiting throughout the entire arranged wedding (down to his “shyness”, his relatives said) didn’t seem to alarm the bride at all. Nor the fact that his uncle handled all the proceedings.

In fact, it was only until 24 hours later that she discovered her new husband couldn’t actually speak at all. Or hear, for that matter. In direct contradiction to everything daily newspaper strips might teach us, the wife took umbrage to her husband’s muteness and annulled the marriage shortly after.

The ‘I Married A Dog To Lift My Paralysing Curse’ Wedding

OK. So you stoned two dogs to death. Now you’re cursed for life. How do you atone for it?

Well, if you’re Mr Selvakumar, you go marry another one.

And, although it isn’t clear whether his solution worked, it doesn’t sound as if the man from Manamadurai exactly threw his whole weight behind this affirmation of mutual respect and understanding: “[following the ceremony,] the groom and his family then had a feast,” the paper reports. “[T]he dog got a bun.”

The ‘Oh…you mean THAT Ring!?’ wedding

Blurring the lines of spousal abuse somewhat, Nikolai Kibkalo and Natalya Karpovich went three rounds in the ring for their wedding ceremony in 2003.

The professional boxers met five years earlier, when Natalya had come to Nikolai for training.

I really hope he’s one of those ‘don’t move until the last second!’ guys, because by the looks of that photo he’s gonna have to tighten up his game if he doesn’t want to end up in the kitchen for the next 30 years.

The Somewhat Reluctant Wedding

In a remote, mountainous region of Asia, the Khevsureti continue to practice the symbolic custom of bride abduction.

Tradition dictates that the young groom visit the bride’s house, where the family will feast. Then, “feigning resistance”, the bride will be imprisoned at the groom’s house where she remains for five days until the actual ceremony begins.

“Divorce,” the Encyclopedia Britannica reports, “is very common.”

The ‘I do tak…..OH GOD IS THAT A SHARK COMING TOWARDS US?!’ wedding

Two newlyweds dance at this underwater wedding ceremony held in China’s Polarland attraction.

The Korea Times described the event, held in July of 2007, as an indication of China’s “rapid economic growth”.

About the Author: Randolph Quan is a UK based wedding photojournalist. You can follow Randolph on Twitter or check out his wedding photography here.