They'll say 'I do' in front of captain and crew

Wedding dress? Check. Cake? Check. Invitations sent? Check. Crystallized ginger? Check.

It's that last item on Jenny Cowling's preparation list that suggests hers will be a wedding out of the ordinary.

Cowling is marrying George Swanson aboard the Roseway at the Tall Ships Duluth festival this weekend.

The purpose of the crystallized ginger?

"It really does help with motion sickness, so if people want some ginger when they get on board, they can do so," explained Cowling, who is originally from Sheffield, England, and now lives in Minneapolis.

It is just one of the quirks of planning a ceremony aboard a 137-foot schooner, on which Cowling will set foot for the first time Saturday in her wedding dress.

"I'm going to take some flat shoes which someone will hold for me, just in case I'm not very steady on my feet," said Cowling, an avid diver. "There are no stilettos [permitted] on the boat, either."

Cowling is one of two brides who will tie the knot at the Tall Ships festival.

Erin Somers, who won the prize of a wedding aboard the Pride of Baltimore II through Minnesota Monthly magazine, will marry RJ Johnson on Sunday.

Somers, who attended the University of Minnesota Duluth for one year in 2000 and now lives in Chanhassen, west of the Twin Cities, found out two months ago that she had won the tall ship wedding.

Happy to leave the organization of the ceremony for their 40 guests to the promoters, Somers -- who has never been on a boat -- said: "I figure we are just going to show up and get married."

She was thankful to have one important item taken care of ahead of time: the purchase of the wedding dress.

"I actually got that even before I was engaged," said Somers, a hair stylist, who knew that Johnson had bought an engagement ring when she spotted a bargain dress that she liked.

"I have had a look at bridal shops online, and it takes three months to get [the dress] in and then you have to get it fitted. I just found out two months ago, so it wouldn't have worked out if I didn't already have it."

While the day itself will provide memories for a lifetime, last-minute preparations are more complicated than they might be for a traditional wedding.

The ships -- and their crews who will make the weddings happen -- are currently incommunicado, racing from Bay City, Mich., on the third leg of the Great Lakes United Tall Ships Challenge 2010.

"The ship captains and crews know that it's all happening, and I'm sure they are doing their preparations," said Gene Shaw, the public relations director for Visit Duluth, the organization hosting the festival.

"[But] for you to try to get a hold of them now would be quite difficult, because they are out on Lake Superior or Lake Michigan and cell phone service is quite difficult."

Consequently, Shaw has at times found himself in the role of impromptu wedding planner, conveying messages from bride to captain and in reverse.

Cowling also communicated directly with the executive director at the Roseway office in Camden, Maine, to finalize details for the celebration, which will involve a buffet from Famous Dave's being served to the 65 guests on deck before the wedding party moves to Fitger's.

Ledge Rock Grille's Chef, Tod Torrcier, a native of Hawaii, will serve a Hawaiian pig roast for the Somers-Johnson wedding reception on the patio of the Knife River restaurant after the tall-ship ceremony on Sunday.

This year's weddings in Duluth will be unusual in that they are the only such celebrations planned for the six ports visited during the Tall Ships Challenge.

In an average year, there might be five weddings per port visited, estimated Patti Lock, the director of the Tall Ships Challenge, who speculated the state of the economy might be to blame.

"They are a lot of fun," she said. "The ambience on the deck speaks for itself; you don't need to dress it up."

Tall-ship wedding facts