Many Trials Before Wedding At Sea

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31239, 10 December 1966, Page 2

Many Trials Before Wedding At Sea

Weddings involve endless arrangements for the prospective bride and her family—but when the bride sets her heart on a wedding in mid-ocean she will have to face many unforeseen hazards.

Any brides who are contemplating an ocean wedding, may hear the full story from a young visitor to Christchurch, Mrs Patricia Hunt, who married the international motocross rider Paul Hunt, off the coast of Hawaii a few weeks ago. As a hostess on a Hilton lawaiian village sunset cruise atamaran, she often joked rith her boss about a mariage on board. When she finally decided on wedding at sea “because it eemed a good idea,” hei roubles began. The marriage licence burau did not have jurisdiction

As a hostess on a Hilton Hawaiian village sunset cruise catamaran, she often joked with her boss about a marriage on board. When she finally decided on a wedding at sea “because it seemed a good idea,” her troubles began.

The marriage licence bureau did not have jurisdiction to issue a licence outside the three-mile limit

“So I began trying to find out about being married inside the three-mile limit,” said Mrs Hunt

Officials were sceptical, and sometimes antagonistic, but the more complicated it got the more determined she became. When a woman in the marriage bureau told her to

forget the whole idea and get married on dry land like everyone else, she said, “1 suggest you keep your remarks to yourself and help me get on with it.” Officials at the bureau said they would not issue a licence unless she could prove that the place where she was to be

married was within the First Circuit (comprising ’ the Island of Oahu). Next Problem The next problem was proving whether the waters surrounding the island were in the First Circuit. “I began calling different offices,” said Mrs Hunt She spent the whole afternoon on the telephone and when she put down the receiver finally, she was “none the wiser.” Next day she went to the library and looked through the revised laws of Hawaii but could find no reference to marriage at sea. Then she thought of the Police Department. How about jurisdiction involving gambling at sea? “They were very nice and said to call the coast guard. From the coast guard I went to the clerk of the court. “The court referred me to the city attorney’s office. Finally, when I was almost exhausted, I got the suggestion that maybe the captain could give a notarised statement saying that the vessel would be off-shore. “Then I had to get the signature of a judge, willing to perform the ceremony. His signature would testify that the location was within his jurisdiction.” When she took these papers to the marriage licence bureau she was issued with a certificate. Carried Leis Clasping leis instead of bouquets, the young couple were married by Judge Francis de Mello, at Diamond Head, one mile off the coast of Hawaii, a few weeks ago. After the hectic preparations the ceremony went off without a hitch. Although it was the rainy season the rain held, the sea was calm, and a rainbow appeared.

“Rain fell in the afternoon but that is good luck in Hawaii,” said Mrs Hunt. Having recovered from her exhausting pre-nuptial trials, Mrs Hunt will indulge in her former hobbies of jewellery making, horse breeding, and riding motor-cycles.