Pirates tie the knot at Brixham Festival

Two pirates tied the knot aboard Sir Francis Drake’s Golden Hind at this year’s Brixham Pirate Festival. 

Zoe and Paul Bradshaw had the ceremony in full pirate attire, complete with rum and sea shanties. 

The Pirate Festival, which sees thousands of people dressed up in pirate attire descend on Brixham, has been running since 2007. It began as a way to brighten up one of the quieter bank holiday weekends in the bay but has since fledged into a town-wide celebration for residents and visitors alike. 

This year, the event was marked by the visit of the carrack NAO Victoria, a Spanish replica of the first ship to circumnavigate the globe, back in the 1500s.

Next to the Nao Victoria was a replica of Sir Francis Drake’s Golden Hind, where Paul and Zoe had their ceremony. 

Paul was dressed in a Jack Sparrow outfit, while Zoe wore a custom-made pirate dress. For the rings, Zoe had a white diamond ring while Paul had one with black diamonds. 

Although the official marriage will be at another pirate-themed ceremony in Doncaster, the couple did still say their vows in front of a pirate-themed celebrant. 

After 10 months of planning, the Doncaster couple got married aboard the replica ship in front of 60 guests, including their four-year-old son Jax. 

“They weren’t your average wedding photos, but it was an amazing day,” said Paul.

“The sun shone and we couldn’t have asked for a better day. It went really well.

“The only issue was that there was a metal band playing near the ship at the same time that we were doing the ceremony, I think the people on the bottom deck couldn’t really hear the celebrant. But that’s how it goes, isn’t it!

“Our son loved doing the mini Jack Sparrow, everyone was asking him for pictures, he was amazing.”

The only problem the couple encountered was that Paul lost his £500 custom pirate hat in the chaos of the weekend. Miraculously, a fellow pirate retrieved the tricorn and reunited Paul with it on social media. 

“It was a really nice ending to the story,” said Paul, “Shows that pirates are trustworthy after all.”