I do! – said Scott, squeezing Mollie’s hand, while gazing straight into her beautiful eyes.

I do! – whispered Mollie, as tears of joy and happiness rolled down her cheeks.

Two canons fired.

Arrrr!!! – exploded the crowd behind them on the deck of the pirate ship sailing into the sunset in the Gulf of Mexico. On the All Hollow’s Eve of October 31st of last year Scott and Mollie were married aboard the “Pirate’s Ransom”.

Being a Tampa wedding photographer undoubtedly has its benefits. Where else but in the land of buccaneers one would witness a wedding in the piradical style? Guests and stuff dressed as pirates, enjoying every wild moment of the journey, cool breeze of the warm Florida evening, the smell of salty water and gun powder in the air – can you think of a more fun way of tying the knot? As we sailed away from the Clearwater Beach, I couldn’t stop thinking how much I admire these guys for their ingenuity and the amount of work and creativity they’ve put into making something so spectacular take place on their special day.

Attention to details was simply breathtaking. Few months before the wedding a black envelop arrived at my house, secured with a genuine wax seal with skull and bones. As I opened it, a smell of burned paper filled the room. Inside I found an invitation to Mollie and Scott’s wedding, and it wasn’t your typical post card. It was a masterpiece to say the least. Oily paper with holes burned here and there looked and smelled amazingly realistic. As I placed it on a table, a ray of light fell across it – I grabbed my camera and started shooting. That’s how Mollie and Scott’s photo gallery actually started – several months before their wedding.

The big day itself went without a glitch. For the bridal party shots we headed off to the Sand Key park in Clearwater, a favorite place of many Tampa wedding photographers. Scott and Mollie brought along an old wooden chair, which looked like it was at least a hundred years old and probably saw its share of high seas adventures. Everyone’s custom-made costumes looked truly breathtaking. I should mention here that no guests were allowed to attend the wedding without a costume. In fact, I myself was dressed as a pirate, running around with a skull hanging off my gear bag. Once we were done with the “formals” everyone headed off to the docks where after quick “rings warming” ceremony we boarded the vessel. I knew we were heading for one of the most spectacular wedding adventures, and, boy, was I right!

The wedding was a great success. The story of Mollie and Scott’s pirate wedding was picked up by the “Offbeat Bride”, “Digital Wedding” as well as a multitude of private blogs. Vision Art Book publisher featured it in one of their albums displayed at the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International convention in Las Vegas earlier this year.

Congratulations Mollie and Scott, best of luck to both of you for years to come!