One of Global Visas’ biggest customer groups is people seeking visas to move abroad to be with their new spouse. Spouse visas, however, can be difficult to obtain as officials carefully scope out international marriages to ensure their legitimacy.

Officials’ job are about to get easier. Taiwan’s foreign bride industry, notorious for illegitimate marriages, may soon be condemned to history as immigration officials get set to ban matchmaking businesses in the country.

Marital bliss for some: US immigration officials would not approve of this union

Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency says the move is based on foreign bride marriages having “weak foundations”. Agencies charge up to $9,000 to match Taiwanese women to men who often show up, point at the prettiest woman, and marry her on the spot.

Even so, it’s not the wackiest way to wed we’ve ever heard of. Here, in no order or marital merit, are the top 10 weirdest marriages we could find.

1. Taken for a ride

A 33-year-old church organist from US state Pennsylvania is marrying a fairground ride. Amy Wolfe has travelled 160 miles 30 times over the past ten years to ride an 80-foot gondola ride which she has fallen for both ‘sexually and mentally’. Ms Wolfe has a medical condition in which one is attracted to inanimate objects.

2. Marriage is for asses

In 2003 Ganga and Varuna were locked in matrimonial union by residents of Bangalore at the Maha Ganapathi temple in Rajajinagar. It was believed that the marriage ceremony would bring the townsfolk rain. Even stranger was that the newly-weds were both donkeys.

3. Redeemed by matrimony

A 33-year-old farmer who beat and stoned two dogs to death redeemed himself from his sins by marring a four-year old stray bitch in a Hindu wedding ceremony. He was advised by his Astrologer to do so.

4. Goaded into it

A Sudanese man was made to marry a goat called Rose after he was caught having sex with her. He also was forced to pay a dowry to the goat’s owner of 15,000 Sudanese dinars (£25).

5. An absent husband

A French woman married her dead boyfriend in a ceremony approved by former president Jacque Chirac. The groom was a  policeman killed in a drunk driving accident; the baby the woman was carrying was also lost. Christelle Dimichelle tied the knot with ‘Eric’ at a ceremony in Nice, during which she became both wife and widow.

6. Selling out

A Florida realtor auctioned her home – and her love – on eBay and Craigslist. The struggling single mom constructed a package deal with “the vibrant outstanding woman of your dreams” along with a 2,000 square foot house with “neutral colors, Berber carpet, and upgraded tile”. Bidding started at 99 cents with a shipping cost of $500k.

7. A comical affair

A Japanese man petitioned for the right to legally marry cartoon characters. Taichi Takashita sought to marry his comic book ‘idol’ after claiming to feel more at ease in 2-D. “I am no longer interested in three dimensions. I would even like to become a resident of the two-dimensional world,” he wrote.

8. No sheep date

Laws aimed at preventing racism have also legalised inter-species marriage in some countries. UK postal worker Mick Thompson and wife Sharon the sheep followed up their wedding with a honeymoon in a Norfolk farmhouse, despite protest from Britain’s RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).

9. Hitting on a brick wall

Eija-Riitta Berliner-Mauer took on the surname of her ‘husband’ of 29 years – the Berlin Wall. She fell in love with the structure when she saw it on TV at age seven, and says she finds ‘long, slim things with horizontal lines very sexy’. Ms Berliner-Mauer married the wall in 1979 before a small congregation of guests, and says of its 1989 destruction: “What they did was awful. They mutilated my husband.”

10. A bright future

Big-hearted Carol Branch married convicted killer Scot Watson with the understanding that they would have no contact for years to come. The mother of four children, all from different dads, saw nothing unusual about the union and was clearly a committed optimist.

Know of a crazier marriage story? Leave us a comment and let us know.