On Saturday (1 April), Love To Travel owner Dooey was attending the Scottish Passenger Agents’ Association (SPAA) annual overseas trip onboard Silversea’s Silver Dawn when the line’s regional sales manager Amanda Middler and head of trade sales Connie Georgiou suggested the idea. 

“We were talking about when Jimmy and I would get married and one of them jokingly said: ’Why don’t you get the captain to marry you?’," Dooey told TTG. The pair, both former SPAA presidents, sprung into action as nuptials were hastily arranged and the couple were married just 48 hours later.

It wasn’t the first time, though, that the couple – who have been together for 18 years – had thought about walking down the aisle. Dooey and Martin, owner of agency Jimmy Martin Travel, have been engaged for the past five years and were due to be hitched in Mauritius in the spring of 2020 during the onset of the pandemic.

“We never had the opportunity to try and rebook it but we had been talking about trying to get married again,” she said. “We hadn’t packed anything for a wedding as the trip was quite casual, so we had to go off the ship and look for flowers, rings. I had to look for a dress, while Jimmy had to look for something for him.”

Unfortunately for them, as it was a Sunday, no shops were open in Madeira, so the wedding party had to make do with what was available. “I had to put on a sundress because I couldn’t find a wedding dress while we got the rings and flowers from a stall,” Dooey said.

Despite the "mad rush" to get ready, the wedding “went perfectly”, Dooey told TTG, with the help of Silversea’s onboard team, who threw the couple a champagne reception, with wedding cake and entertainment. “Connie and Amanda were absolutely amazing, they actually arranged it all," she said. 

The only thing missing was the couple’s family. "We’ve got six children and three grandchildren between the two of us, and obviously they weren’t there,” she said. “That was the only dampener but we FaceTimed them and we’re going to have a party at home."

Nevertheless, when asked if she would do it all again, Dooey said: “Yes, but I would definitely take my stuff with me!”