Couple says 'aye' at Pirate's Cove

TRAVERSE CITY -- The sign at Pirate's Cove Adventure Park said it all: "Argh Sherri n Jeff is takin the plunge."

Sherri Adams and Jeff West donned matching buccaneer get-ups for their seaworthy nuptials on a mini golf putting green. The backdrop: a worn-out ship jutting from blue-green water, a cannon perched nearby and a treasure chest hanging from a tree overhead.

It wasn't the Caribbean, but rather East Bay, just off U.S. 31 North. The couple said their aye-ayes at the spot of their first date, a pirate-themed putt-putt park.

"Because it's a second marriage for both of us, we just sort of wanted to make it light and fun and interesting and put a little different spin on it, so it's not necessarily got to be your run-of-the-mill, everyday traditional-type wedding," said Adams. "I figure there are other traditions we can throw in."

Adams, 47, of Traverse City, and West, 48, of Elk Rapids, met through a dating Web site and got together on May 20, 2007, for a round of golf at Pirate's Cove. Adams made a hole-in-one on the first shot, and it was then, when she smiled in victory, that West was hooked.

West took Adams in December to the snow-covered first hole and got down on one knee.

On Tuesday, exactly one year after they laid eyes on each other, the pair tied the knot on that very same putting green.

"We really wanted to not have a traditional thing, make it something memorable, nothing big and elaborate, but just something different," West said. "Pirate's Cove really means a lot to us because that's where it all began, and we just stuck to the pirates theme."

The two were joined by their four grown kids and West's mother for a short ceremony -- followed by a game of mini golf.

"In talking about what to wear, we've got kids in that early-20 range where a lot of times they're not as keen on silly things that mom and dad might decide to do, so we decided to make it pretty casual for them," Adams said. "Then we started joking about wearing pirate costumes, and then we said, 'why not?'"

"It was great," he said after the pirate partners took their vows. "It is a first in my 25 years in ministry to do a wedding on a putt-putt course."

Photos

Jeff West and Sherri Adams embrace. Record-Eagle

Jeff West and Sherri Adams laugh before their wedding ceremony Tuesday at Pirate-s Cove in Traverse City, where the two went on their first date and where West proposed. Record-Eagle

Jeff West and Sherri Adams were married in a small ceremony Tuesday dressed as pirates at Pirate's Cove, where the two went on their first date and where West proposed. Record-Eagle