Watch the moment a groom drops bride's wedding ring in the lake during ceremony

The moment a groom accidentally dropped his bride's wedding ring in the lake during their ceremony was caught on camera.

Andrew and Marlee Kent, from Washington, were saying "I do" on a wooden pier in Lake Tahoe, California when the accident happened.

It was all going well until it was time to exchange the ring.

Andrew opened the box then, as he nervously fumbled trying to get the ring out, it fell in between a gap in the pier and right into the lake beneath them.

"Honestly I thought, this can't be happening. Like that didn't just happen," the bride, Marlee, told CNN.

Footage shows the couple on their hands and knees as they spot the ring in the clear waters of the lake.

"My first thought was how deep is it, how cold is it?" Andrew recalled, revealing he was contemplating jumping in the lake to retrieve it, but the pastor advised him not to.

The couple ended up asking for help from a local scuba diving Facebook group, and an experienced diver came to their rescue.

Phill Abernathy jumped into the cold water and retrieved the ring for the couple - not after fighting off a crayfish to get to it.

"I'm so thankful to have my ring back but either way it's a great story to tell our kids one day," the bride said.

This article was first published by the NZ Herald and is republished here with permission.