WOW VOWS : A consultant sees a trend toward non-traditional weddings that forsake churches in favor of outdoor or homespun settings.

When it comes to weddings, most people go for tradition. Organs throbbing out Lohengrin, solemn processions, flower-strewn aisles and tossed bouquets--such things get couples started on the adventure of matrimony. Except for the mavericks.

There are always people who will lean the other way--who decide to take a bit of license with the ceremony.

According to local wedding directors, it is usually those who have been married before who choose to break with ritual.

“Our second and third couples are much more gutsy in what they do,” said Shelley Smilen, a partner of New Directions consultants in Simi Valley. “As they get a little bit older, their expression comes out--the younger ones haven’t evolved that much as human beings, and they’re under the influence of their families.”

Smilen helped Shannon Landvogt and Mark Voje plan a Wild West wedding this spring, and she is now working with a couple on nuptials with a calypso theme. She says about 10% of her clients want a non-traditional ceremony.

“There’s a mixture of tradition and non-tradition,” said Patricia Swaim, who operates Beautiful Weddings to Remember in Ventura. She sees a growing trend toward non-traditional weddings that forsake churches in favor of outdoor or homespun settings.

“A lot of people like barns,” Swaim said.

There are ministers who specialize in out-of-church ceremonies. One is the Rev. John Southwick of Valley Orthodox Church in Simi Valley, a church without its own building. Southwick officiates at up to four “location” weddings each weekend.

“I think it’s important to be able to do the wedding in the setting they want,” Southwick said. “It doesn’t make the ceremony any less solemn or them any less married.”

Southwick goes along with any wedding as long as he considers the theme in good taste. For a ceremony at the Ventura Marina he was asked to come as a love boat captain, which he was happy to do.

The minister not only rents his own costumes, but has his own audio equipment. But he did say, “I’m booked pretty much through September.”

Truly sensational wedding ceremonies don’t seem to be common in Ventura County. A quick check with bungee cord specialists revealed that they had had no requests for marriages on the rebound. Dave Barlia, who arranges jumps from his business in Studio City, pointed out that the only bungee wedding he was aware of in Southern California didn’t have a happy ending, anyway.

“It was shown on the Rick Dees show,” he said, “and the police found out and arrested the guy because you are not supposed to be jumping off bridges.”

Similarly, local dive shops could not remember a couple who had said their vows undersea. As a runner-up entry, Lisa Lazar of Gold Coast Scuba in Ventura told of a man that she knew who proposed during a dive.

“He put the ring in a shell,” she said. “He tried to get her attention, and kept telling her, ‘Look at this, look at this.’ She finally looked at it. And he had written on a slate, ‘Will you marry me?’ ” He was accepted.

Above the water’s surface it’s a different story. The county’s beaches are popular sites for plighting troths. Oceanfront hotels book lavish--but expensive--weddings. Public parks, on the other hand, charge modest fees to reserve a section for a few hours.

Jeff Price, chief ranger of the state Department of Parks and Recreation’s Channel Coast District, books a number of wedding parties each year.

“Most of the people find the plans they have are a little too extravagant,” he said of the ceremonies. “They begin with an idea of parachuting or para-sailing out of the sky--that’s a million-dollar liability because it could lead to falling on someone, or their own demise. Usually the red tape just gets too much for these people. They say, ‘Well, we’ll just walk onto the beach.’ ”

About once a year, Price said, a couple wades into the surf to say their vows. Others choose the Ventura Pier. The parks department allows wedding parties on the pier but will not restrict fishermen and others from using it during the ceremony.

“When you think of the logistics of getting several hundred people on the pier . . . there’s the wind, there’s a lot of people fishing there,” Price said. “I wouldn’t want some guy that smelled like anchovies wandering through the middle of my wedding.”

So, why do they do it?

“It starts with the question of why people get married,” the ranger said. “Why do they get married? I don’t know.”