History Main / MarriedAtSea

* ''TheAfricanQueen'' had the two leads being married by the captain of a German military ship seconds before they were to be executed. (The captain may have known that he was unauthorized to perform such a ceremony, but how could he turn down the last starry-eyed request of a couple about to die?)

* Side characters Torlo and Tatiana get married aboard ship in ''InfiniteSpace'' with ship captain Yuri and his sister Kira as witnesses.

Well... wrong. Captains ''can'' perform marriages, but they need a license to do so, just like anyone else would. There are no laws that "automatically" grant captains this right, although you wouldn't know that by watching television, where a sizable chunk of nuptials are performed by salty sea dogs. (Bonus points to the captain if he wears a patch over one eye and reads the vows to the couple in a {{pirate}}-y accent.)

* [[AffectionateParody Affectionately parodied]] in the musical ''TheDrowsyChaperone'': The show-within-a-show ends with the best man neglecting to hire a minister for the wedding, so he enlists a passing aviatrix (reasoning that she is a "captain of a ship of the air") to marry all the happy couples en route to the honeymoon.

(Speaking of pirates, there was actually a wedding aboard a [[BuccaneerBroadcaster pirate radio ship]] off Britain in the 1960s - one of the DJs married another DJ's sister - which was of course broadcast live.)

* In the third ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' film, Will asks Elizabeth to marry him in the midst of the epic climatic battle at sea in the middle of a maelstrom (their planned wedding at the beginning of the second film having been interrupted with a few arrests among the wedding party). Elizabeth at first protests ("I don't think now is the best time!") before agreeing and asking Barbossa to marry them right there mid-battle ("I'M A LITTLE BUSY AT THE MOMENT!"). Barbossa thinks she's mad, but recites it anyway while all three keep fighting Davy Jones' undead fishy crew. The situation may be the most [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome awesome]] marriage scene in the history of marriage scenes.
** Barbossa's lines are particularly hilarious if you can make them out. "Dearly beloved, we be gathered here today... to nail yer gizzard to the mast ye poxy cur!" Not to mention "In sickness and in health...with health being the less likely!"
*** And Will's {{Adorkable}} "Great"
*** "You may kiss-- [attacked by a fishman] You may kiss-- [is attacked by another fishman] Just kiss!"
** Also suggested by Jack in the second film, except he suggests that Elizabeth marry him... and that he also officiate the ceremony.

* In the third ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' film, Will asks Elizabeth to marry him in the midst of the epic climatic battle at sea in the middle of a maelstrom (their planned wedding at the beginning of the second film having been interrupted with a few arrests among the wedding party). Elizabeth at first protests ("I don't think now is the best time!") before agreeing and asking Barbossa to marry them right there mid-battle. Barbossa thinks she's mad, but recites it anyway while all three keep fighting Davy Jones' undead fishy crew. The situation may be the most [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome awesome]] marriage scene in the history of marriage scenes.

* In the third ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' film, Will asks Elizabeth to marry him in the midst of the epic climatic battle at sea in the middle of a maelstrom. Elizabeth at first protests ("I don't think now is the best time!") before agreeing and asking Barbossa to marry them right there mid-battle. Barbossa thinks she's mad, but recites it anyway while all three keep fighting Davy Jones' undead fishy crew. The situation may be the most [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome awesome]] marriage scene in the history of marriage scenes.

* ''NashBridges'', a ''police'' captain, performs a marriage in one episode, with the excuse that the division he is captain of is currently headquartered on a boat.

* In an episode of ''GilligansIsland'', the Howells learn via a radio report that the minister who married them was never ordained and thus, they believed themselves to be unmarried. They tried to rectify this by having the Skipper marry them on a raft, but after bickering for awhile, they call the wedding off. They soon learn that the radio report was in error and had named the wrong minister. (The irony here is that, according to the law, even if their minister ''was'' a fake, the Howells themselves would still have remained legally married as long as they believed him to be genuine. See [[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_450a.html this Straight Dope entry for more details on the subject.]] But then [[RuleOfFunny it's ''Gilligan's Island'']].)

** In this case it was also a means of buying time and distracting the warship's crew, given that [[spoiler:their own wrecked ship, with armed torpedoes jutting out of its bow, lay directly in the warship's path.]]

* In the third ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' film, Will asks Elizabeth to marry him in the midst of the epic climatic battle at sea in the middle of a maelstrom. Elizabeth at first protests ("I don't think now is the best time!") before agreeing and asking Barbossa to marry them right there mid-battle. Barbossa thinks she's mad, but recites it anyway while all three keep fighting Davy Jones' undead fishy crew. The situation may be the most [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome awesome]] marriage scene in the history of marriage scenes.

* Played perfectly straight ''offscreen'' in ''[[XWingSeries The Bacta War]]''. After Rogue Squadron (with occasional help) defeats the bacta cartel, and wanting to avoid weeks or months of her father dogging Corran's every step on the way to the wedding, Corran and Mirax get married--by Wedge Antilles, who is in fact not even a "real" captain, but a starfighter commander. However, as the ''Lusankya'' was surrendered to him personally, he became its ''de facto'' commander... which is apparently considered close enough according to New Republic law. [[note]]The New Republic hasn't been around all that long, so [[LoopholeAbuse there probably aren't any specific legal precedents either way]]. And if there AintNoRule saying he ''can't''...[[/note]]

* In the Dutch sitcom ''Series/VriendenVoorHetLeven'', Eddie and Ellen do this during their first attempt at mariage.

* Happens in the midst of a rather pitched battle (swords, pirate ships, whirlpool, storm, FishPeople) at the third ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movie - Elizabeth asks Barbossa to marry her to Will. Barbossa thinks she's mad, but recites it anyway while all three keep fighting Davy Jones' undead fishy crew.
** The situation may be the most [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome awesome]] marriage scene in the history of marriage scenes.
*** Barbossa's lines are particularly hilarious if you can make them out. "Dearly beloved, we be gathered here today... to nail yer gizzard to the mast ye poxy cur!" Not to mention "In sickness and in health...with health being the less likely!"
*** And Will's adorkable "Great"

** Also suggested by Jack in the second film, except he suggests that Elizabeth marry him... and that he also officiate the ceremony. However, there are some RealLife places where a marriage ceremony without a third party is allowed.

*** Picard almost marries Riker and Troi in ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'', but the events of the film prevent this. They end up married anyway, but they decide to move the ceremony to Betazed.

** [[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Commander Sisko]] probably has the best claim of all of them, at least for the Bajorans, who consider him TheMessiah. Sisko is also shown to marry some of his (non-Bajoran) troops. In an episode he lament the fact that he officiated a dead RedShirt's wedding.

Well, you simply hire out the nearest sea captain (the saltier the better), have him take you in his boat beyond the 12-mile[[hottip:metric:about 20 KM]] mark and then let ''him'' perform your wedding ceremony. After all, you're in international waters. Anything goes, right?

Well, you simply hire out the nearest sea captain (the saltier the better), have him take you in his boat beyond the 12-mile[[hottip:*:about 20 KM]] mark and then let ''him'' perform your wedding ceremony. After all, you're in international waters. Anything goes, right?

Well, you simply hire out the nearest sea captain (the saltier the better), have him take you in his boat beyond the 12-mile mark and then let ''him'' perform your wedding ceremony. After all, you're in international waters. Anything goes, right?

* In the MargaretWeis/Tracy Hickman series ''TheDeathGateCycle'', the protagonist and miscellaneous refugees are escaping a catastrophe, and two characters ask the protagonist to marry them, citing this tradition. He agrees reluctantly.

* Played perfectly straight ''offscreen'' in ''[[XWingSeries The Bacta War]]''. After Rogue Squadron (with occasional help) defeats the bacta cartel, and wanting to avoid weeks or months of her father dogging Corran's every step on the way to the wedding, Corran and Mirax get married--by Wedge Antilles, who is in fact not even a "real" captain, but a starfighter commander. However, as the ''Lusankya'' was surrendered to him personally, he became its ''de facto'' commander...which is apparently all that's needed in the Star Wars universe to preside over a marriage ceremony.