Armed with mounds of spaghetti, pasta strainers and a litany of other non-traditional elements, a couple in New Zealand held what is being dubbed the world’s first-ever “Pastafarian” wedding on Saturday, an affair that was conducted by the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
The satirical “church” was birthed in 2005 when a many named Bobby Henderson pushed back against the idea of teaching intelligent design in Kansas public schools. In a letter to the Kansas State Board of Education, he quipped that he believed that a Flying Spaghetti Monster created the world and universe and that his ideas should be taught in schools, NPR reported.
The wedding — which was held on a private boat — included rings made of pasta, guests dressed as pirates, Fenn donning a spaghetti strainer on her head and an officiant known as a “ministeroni.” The guests consumed pasta, of course, with the wedding cake featuring an image of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, according to the Associated Press.
Karen Martyn, the woman who married Ricketts and Fenn, told the AP that she has no doubt that “the Flying Spaghetti Monster created the world,” quipping that the idea is just as plausible as what other religions propose about creation. “We weren’t around then and we didn’t see it, but no other religion was around to see it either, and our deity is as plausible as any other,” she said.