Our Pirate Themed Wedding

"We all love hearing a heartwarming love story, a tale of two people coming together against all odds, or perhaps because that's the way fate intended.

I thought I'd share one of those great romantic stories with you, one which then led to a proposal, and then a wedding... but one with a difference!"
Our pirate-themed wedding/ Ahoy mateys!

From the age of 15, I knew Don, then 19, was the love of my life.The first time I saw him at our local pub I was besotted by him, but we were the best of friends and our relationship never entered into a romantic one. Don't get me wrong though, I tried! I revealed my true feelings to Don several times over the following years, but he made it clear he thought of me as a little sister, and didn't want to risk ruining our close friendship.

Years passed, Don saw me through two marriages and I saw him through three engagements. We remained thick as thieves throughout all the years but when Don moved from NSW to Tasmania in 2000 we slowly lost contact. My marriage fell apart not long after, and I constantly thought of Don- how he was, what he was doing, what he looked like, and of course whether he thought of me also. Then one day, in late-2003, I ran into one of Don's good mates at our local GP and he handed me Don's number urging me to call.

I nervously dialed his number, but as soon as I started talking to Don it was like a minute hadn't passed since we'd last seen one another. Don still had the exact same quirky and cheeky sense of humour that we'd always shared, both in hysterics as we relayed stories to one another. And to top it off, Don was coming to Sydney two weeks later and wanted to catch up!

The day we met up was the best of my life. Huge grin on his face, for the first time in 28 years Don looked at me like a desirable woman rather than his little sister. And sharing our first kiss soon after, butterflies filled my tummy! Within days Don told me he loved me and a few weeks later I packed my bags and moved to Tassie to be with him.

After a wonderful four years together, Don finally proposed to me in late-2007.I was 43, Don was 47 and we'd both been through our fair share of engagements and marriages. So when discussing our wedding plans, we wanted to ensure our big day was anything but "the norm", and a day that reflected both our quirky personalities. And that's how the idea of our pirate-themed wedding was born.

Married on April 6, 2008, Don and I dressed in matching black and white captain and wench pirate outfits and exchanged vows on a boat with a 6-foot pirate flag in the middle of Huon River, Tas.  With all our guests dressed also dressed in theme at the reception, our wedding day turned into a massive, fun party and everyone had an absolute ball! To put our theme together we sourced everything from various stores, suppliers and some generous friends helped us out also.

Everything came together wonderfully and all fairly inexpensively also!
Here are some of the details of our pirate-themed wedding:
Bomboniere

We wanted to have practical gifts as wedding favours so we had stubby holders made with our names and the date of our wedding, and each guests also got a pirate flag. They were made and printed by The Works Printing Group, in Derwent Park, Tas.
Cake

I was chatting to my friend, Janet, at work about not having much luck finding someone to make a treasure chest cake for our wedding and she and her daughter offered to make it. It was a chocolate mud cake and we provided the decorations.
Ceremony Location

A friend of ours had an old fishing trawler and offered it to us, and in turn we provided diesel and a carton of beer! The ceremony was held on the boat with just family and close friends (around 15 people in total). The 6-foot pirate flag came from our local newsagent- they had big and small ones and we bought heaps!
Celebrant

Our celebrant, John Jameson, offered his own costume and family ceremonial British naval sword.
Reception

We held our reception at Geeveston Ex-Servicemen's & Women's Club, in Huonville, Tas, where we were both members.
Decorations

We used mostly Christmas decorations for the reception, including strings of beads, from echristmas.com.au, and then bought a whole heap of other decorations like gold chocolate coins and pirate napkins, from a variety store. It was under $100 for the lot!
Bride & Groom's wear

All of our costumes came from www.buypiratecostumes.com. I got my costume, the groom's costume, the best man and the maid of honour's costumes all for under $500!
Hair & Makeup

I do acrylic nails and makeup for weddings and formals, so along with a friend helping out with our hair, we did it all. 
Invitations

As a computer teacher I made the invitations myself. I bought the paper from Big W and designed and printed the invitations and thank you notes.
Music

The DJs were a local pair that I had met at previous functions, called DJ Izzy. They offer fantastic deals and will accommodate all music and can MC for functions also.
Photography

Don's brother is the assistant editor for Live to Ride magazine and he offered to take a few photos for us- which ended up being over 400! We also had Bruce Dale, a professional photographer from National Geographic, turn up at the wedding to take pics.
Transport

Our cars were provided by Huonville Limousines and we also had a mini bus provided by Huon Valley taxis to shuttle people back and forwards, to save them driving.
Accommodation

The night before the wedding, my maid of honour, Beverly, and I stayed at Huon Franklin Cottage, in Franklin, a 5-star B&B. The night of the wedding Don and I stayed at Matilda's of Ranelagh, a 19th Century winery, and now a wonderful B&B.
Honeymoon

In keeping the pirate theme going, we decided to go to Norfolk Island for a week as Honeymoon.