Getting married. Need help...

[Dutchdev]

Isle Royale is one of our favorite places to visit. My fiance asked me to marry him and I was trying to think of a really unusual/meaning place to get married... Anyone been married on the island? The NP service requires a permit/approval for this. Have any pointers? Who did you have marry you? Thanks in advance for the help.

[Ingo]

I'm no real help, other than to say DO IT!! I'm personally going to try and get one of my daughters to do it if/when the time comes. Of course, the other alternative is to get married on the mainland and then escape to I.R. for the honeymoon. Congratulations, good luck and give us an update when it's figured out!

[fonixmunkee]

Dutchdev: congrats on tying the knot! In regards to your question about getting married on the island, I can't imagine why it wouldn't be possible. People are married in National Parks all the time (Google "Yellowstone National Park" and "marriage" and you'll see what I mean). So I'm sure it's possible. Starting here is a great idea to find out the logistics of making it happen. But my thought would be "yes, you can get married on IR."

And as for the honeymoon, my girlfriend's parents honeymooned there many years ago when they got hitched.

Hopefully someone else has some helpful insight for you!

[Kevinl]

Aren't boat captains qualified to marry people?

And congratulations!

[Dutchdev]

Thanks for the replies! We're thinking captain Don might be the one to marry us. We're looking at June... Probably at the lodge, but hopefully at the lighthouse on Rock harbor if we can get it approved.

[Tom]

Aren't boat captains qualified to marry people?

Sure, they can marry whomever they fall in love with, just like you and I! (Oh, wait..)

Actually this is one of those urban (maybe Sea?) myths. At least in the US. A captain is no more qualified to perform the ceremony than any other normal person. That being said, they can certainly register with their local county or state to perform services, as can you and I, and I think some may do that just in order to offer the ability to do so.
I met a couple at McCargoe Cove this fall who were celebrating their anniversary on the Isle; the also became engaged on the Isle as well, but ultimately elected to hold the ceremony off the Island as to the logistics of getting a few family members out there. You're on the right track, though, I beleive you need a permit from the Park Superintendent, and that will determine when and where you're allowed to conduct the ceremony. The Rock Harbor lighthouse would be cool, but if it needs to be closer to the lodge, maybe they'd let you use the America Dock...
I suppose you're refering to Capt Don of the Queen IV, since I'm not sure you'd want Capt Don of the Isle Royale Transportation Lines (Voyaguer II and ???) with his nasty tourettes and all.

Congratulations, BTW! If we're on the Isle at the same time, are we invited??

[jerry]

Congrats Dutchdev,

If you'll have the wedding in the middle of the ISRO maybe I too could attend. You're lucky to have someone that is willing to go to this lovely place with you.

[Midwest Ed]

I finally found the link to this PDF file I so faintly remembered.

http://www.nps.gov/isro/planyourvisit/u ... ddings.pdf

Congratulations to the Bride and Groom to be.

~Ed

[Dutchdev]

If we can pull it off, and you are on the isle, then you are more than welcome to come! Bride and groom will probably be in hiking attire.

[Keweenaw]

I finally found the link to this PDF file I so faintly remembered.

http://www.nps.gov/isro/planyourvisit/u ... ddings.pdf

Congratulations to the Bride and Groom to be.

~Ed

This is hilarious! What an example of bureaucracy at its finest. It sounds like for $150 you get a permit to stand there in the Park - no decorations, no rice, no birdseed, chairs only for disabled, and the services of a Park Service "monitor" to make sure all regulations are enforced.

BTW - Isle Royale is legally in Michigan, so make sure your officiator is OK to perform weddings in Michigan.

Bob

[sgerbs]

You will also need to get the marriage license from the county you are getting married in (30 days or less before the wedding). I think IR is technically part of Keweenaw County.

When I was out at Grand Canyon, there were pastors in the parks who did weddings quite frequently for a very reasonable sum. Since IR is not a year round park, I'm sure that that is probably not an option, but maybe a magistrate or pastor from the UP is an option.

If you really are not able to find anyone, I do know someone who enjoys IR and is able to marry people and you might be able to convince them to do it.

[DonNewcomb]

I've been told that in some States (e.g. Florida) a couple can be married by any Notary. It does not sound very romantic.

[MikeT]

This is a topic I have investigated. I proposed at Rainbow Cove at sunset. She jokes that I did it there because, if she said no, I would have left her there
We then planned on getting married on the boat on the way over believing a boat captain could perform the ceremony. This, as mentioned by others, is not true. What is true is that captains on boats in international waters can perform a marriage ceremony. This was because people coming over from other countries had a long boat ride and many would get married on their way over to the America.
So, we investigated doing it on the island or, finding someone to take a boat ride and do it and finally decided to do it locally because of the logistics and being closer to family and friends. We did get married by a captain, but he had to go through the process of getting "ordained". He did this because he always had people asking him. He now performs weddings on his boat in Lake Huron and the mainland. Seems that might be an opportunity for one one of the IR boat captains.

As far as the park goes, once we saw the forms they had and what they provided, we kind of laughed and said no.

We did honeymoon on the island in the fall and repeated our vows to each other while on the shore of an empty Lake Richie campground at sunset.

[DonNewcomb]

One thing to keep in mind is that the trip to IR is very short, so even if the master of one of the ferries had the legal authority to perform a marriage, he might not have the time to do it. If there is anyone I would ask about this it would be the Lodge.