Couple plays it cool with Antarctic wedding

A CAPE Town couple are laying claim to the coolest wedding of the year after tying the knot in the Antarctic.

Writer Jacqui L’Ange and operations manager David Bush are on an expedition with Cape Town endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh‚ who is in the Antarctic to raise awareness of marine conservation.

Pugh said on his blog: “They claim they’d been too busy to plan a wedding; all it took was some enthusiastic team and crew members to convince them this was the perfect time and place.

“They were married on the shore of Neko Bay against a backdrop of calving glaciers.

“The vows‚ read 50m up from the shore to ensure safety from glacial tsunamis‚ acknowledged the humbling immensity of the place.

“Gentoo penguins were the only guests in formal black tie. The bride’s snowflake-inspired veil was made out of paper from the Midnatsol ship’s office and the galley rustled up a wedding cake with two chocolate penguins on top.

“It was certainly the most memorable wedding I’ve ever attended!”

Posting photographs on Facebook‚ L’Ange, who is Pugh’s expedition writer, said: “So David and I just got married in Antarctica‚ at Neko Bay‚ 64°50’ South 62°35 West”.

And she paid tribute the expedition team.

“The story behind the story is that this wouldn’t have happened without some seriously enthusiastic expedition team members and the generosity and creative ingenuity of the Midnatsol crew. You are all awesome.”

Last year‚ Pugh played a key role in an agreement to create the world’s largest marine protected area and ban fishing in much of the Ross Sea‚ a bay in the Southern Ocean.

L’Ange writes books‚ films‚ TV series and investigative non-fiction with a focus on sustainable development and environmental issues. Her debut novel‚ The Seed Thief‚ was published last year, and long-listed for the Sunday Times Fiction Award and the 2016 Etisalat Prize for Literature. to