The ring lost during the wedding ceremony leads to a diving rescue in Lake Tahoe

It’s the nightmare of every couple’s wedding anniversary: ​​Andrew Kent was about to slip a ring on his bride Marlee’s finger during a ceremony on the waters of Lake Tahoe on Sugar Pine Beach when the ring slipped out of his hands. The diamond ribbon then fell through the pier, the pair told FOX 40s, into the cold waters of the second deepest lake in the United States.

Kent, who lives in Vancouver, Washington, was tempted to jump afterwards but was persuaded by incumbent Tahoe Area Minister Sharon Rusk not to do so. The lake’s water temperature in March is usually just over 40 degrees.

Tahoe has a special weight for the Kents who visit each summer. Their wedding day, March 12th, was also significant to the couple. It had been five years since they started dating. “[Sugar Pine] is our favorite beach, ”Marlee Kent told the Tahoe Daily Tribune. “We love jumping off the pier.”

In a video of the ceremony shared by KRON 4, the couple look shocked as they get on all fours and then laugh as they peek through a gap in the pier. The ring sat on a rock below. With another ring from Marlee, they continued the ceremony while the minister emphasized the challenges that all marriages must face.

“It’s only one thing,” said Andrew, “and there was a reasonable chance we might get it back.”

After the ceremony, the Kents sent a cry for help to the 217-strong Facebook group Tahoe Scuba Diving, which is primarily focused on rehabilitation of the lake. Within a few minutes there were a lot of offers to help the couple. The group’s founder, Phill Abernathy, was in the water the next morning.

The ring had moved overnight and took some work to find. Rusk had marked the spot on the pier where the ring fell with a big heart that she hoped would help Abernathy know where to look. Then he had to use a rusty pipe to move a large stone under which the ring had been wedged overnight.

“We’re still amazed that Phill got it,” wrote Andrew on the group’s Facebook wall, adding that Abernathy “had to dig through boulders and fend off a crawdad to get it back.”

Apparently, the Kents are nowhere near the first to face this situation in Tahoe, a popular romantic getaway destination. One commenter noted that the Kents aren’t the first, and definitely won’t be the last, to lose a ring to the lake’s photogenic waters.

Derek Giurlani, a diving instructor at the Sierra Diving Center, wrote that he personally fetched four or five rings from the lake.