Doncaster couple marry in pirate themed wedding - with groom dressed as Jack Sparrow

The guests celebrated the marriage by drinking rum and singing songs, while the bride wore a £1,000 dress for the occasion.

Stay-at-home mum Zoe Bradshaw, 40, and her now-husband Paul Bradshaw, 51, visited Brixham Pirates Festival, in Devon, England for the first time in May 2023.

The couple was so enamored by the event that they based their wedding on it.

"When we came to Brixham last year for the festival, we fell in love with it," said Zoe.

"We've been to so many pirate events since then, it's a great community to be in."

The pirate enthusiasts spent ten months planning their big day - which took place at the very same festival when it returned to Brixham this past weekend.

The couple married on Saturday, May 4 - the first day of the three-day festival with their four-year-old son Jax also in attendance.

"I was dressed as Jack Sparrow and my son was a mini Jack Sparrow - everyone wanted his picture!" said Paul.

While it was a public festival, Paul snapped up 60 tickets, including one for their officiant.

They wed aboard The Golden Hind, a full-sized replica of Sir Francis Drake's vessel in Brixham Harbour, surrounded by friends, family, and other festival goers.

"Everyone was so excited and it was exactly what we hoped for," Zoe said.

The bride added that the sun was shining, everyone was laughing and dressed up, and music was playing for the "brilliant" event.

"We didn't want a traditional wedding so we said we'd just have a big pirate party," said Paul.

"It was a bit crazy but everything worked out so well."

Zoe wore a £1,000 custom-made pirate wedding dress featuring a black and red corset with matching roses and a black and red wig with a pirate hat.

They didn't want normal rings, so Zoe had a white diamond ring and Paul had one with black diamonds, in keeping with the theme.

They won't officially marry until they go to a registry office, which they plan to do in the next year.

The pair want to have a smaller, but still pirate-themed, affair in Doncaster.

But they did say their vows and had an officiant who has experience officiating pirate-themed affairs present.

They even came in costume too.

"I did a pirate ceremony wedding in Crete a couple of years ago, so I put a post up online about it and Paul asked if I'd do their wedding," the officiant said.

"It's so lovely to bring everyone together like this, and I think more people are getting their eyes opened to the possibility of pirate weddings."

The officiant called the experience "an absolute blast" and compared it to "herding cats," but it was still beautiful.

They also admitted that they led a few "shanties," which are work songs sung aboard ships and boats.

Reflecting on the big day, the bride Zoe said "It was perfect. You've never seen anything like it. It was just amazing."