A Marriage at Sea
Story by Tom Flynn
Here’s a riddle: When does a train take a ferry?Answer: When the bride walks aboard.
That is just what Bunny Krogslund of Quakertown, Pennsylvania, did on May
18, 2001. She boarded the Islander at 3:45 p.m. in Woods Hole in her beaded
white gown and long train. Her groom Bruce was already on board, but some of the
guests were late. This time, the captain did hold the departure a bit, but if
you are going to a wedding on a ferry, it’s not good enough to hear, “Oh well,
there’s always the next boat.”
Bruce had grown up spending summers on East Chop
in Oak Bluffs. His grandparents had been coming here since the turn of the last
century. But it was Bunny who thought it would be a kick to get married on the
ferry.
“Wouldn’t it be nice,” she said, “if we boarded engaged in Woods Hole and
got off married in Vineyard Haven?” And that they did. The I dos came in the
presence of their hometown pastor and sixty-three invited friends and family, as
well as in the presence of the crew and a couple hundred other passengers.
Islander captain David Dandridge gave a nuptial blast of the boat’s horn at the
first kiss.
The still-happily married couple returned to Martha’s Vineyard for
the ferry Islander’s farewell voyage in March, proving that a wedding at sea
doesn’t mean a choppy marriage.
Bunny and Bruce’s nuptials were the first held
on board a Steamship Authority boat. For the record, if you are thinking about
getting married on the ferry, bring your own clergyman or justice of the peace.
In spite of what you may have heard, the ferry captains can’t legally marry you.
The Steamship Authority says you should call well in advance if you are planning
a shipboard wedding, and the folks there will do everything they can to
accommodate you. The ferry wedding costs the price of one ticket per person for
all those in the wedding party. You can’t bring food or drink, since there is a
concessionaire on board. And remember to get the ship’s position (longitude and
latitude) to put on the marriage license, because the exact place of the wedding
has to be noted.
To make arrangements to have your wedding on board,
contact Gina Barboza at the Steamship Authority at 508-548-5011.