The story of why we chose to get married in Bermuda started over 400 years ago in England, in June of 1609, when Arlene's great(x11) grandfather Edward Eason boarded a 300-ton merchant ship destined to set sail on an adventure to the 'new world'. The merchant ship, appropriately named the Sea Venture, was the flagship vessel of a nine-ship flotilla that was chartered to bring the largest group of colonists and cargo to the newly established and deeply troubled Jamestown colony. Late into the voyage across the Atlantic, the Sea Venture was caught in a hurricane which caused it to separate from the rest of the fleet and begin taking on water. Four days into the storm, when all hope was nearly lost, Captain Newport deliberately wedged the ship between two large rocks off of the then uninhabited island of Bermuda to prevent it from sinking, saving all of the 150 passengers and one dog that were aboard the ship.

The survivors spent ten months on the island building two new ships, the Deliverance and the Patience, to carry survivors and food supplies to Jamestown. During this period, in March of 1610, Edward Eason and his wife gave birth to the very first baby boy ever born on the island: Bermudas Eason. The only other baby born during this ten month period was a girl named Bermuda Rolfe, who unfortunately passed away along with her mother before the Deliverance and Patience set sail to Jamestown. Bermuda Rolfe's father, John Rolfe, made his name in history when he went on to re-marry in Jamestown, this time to Pocahontas, the captured daughter of a local Indian chief made famous by legends of her heroic effort to save the life of Captain John Smith a few years earlier. On May 10th of 1610, the ships were finished and ready to set sail. Edward Eason and his family boarded the Deliverance along with the other remaining colonists to resume their charter to supply the Jamestown colony with new settlers and cargo. Only two men who were convicted of unknown crimes and fled into the woods to escape punishment were left behind on the island. These two men were the only two people to inhabit the island until additional ships were sent to settle the island a few years later.

Ten days after the Deliverance and Patience departed the shores of Bermuda, they sailed into the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay. Upon arriving at the Jamestown settlement, the new arrivals found the colony in desperate peril. Out of the 500 settlers who had preceded them, only 60 had survived, and most of these were sick or dying. The colony was plagued by a bad drought, contaminated water, and attacks by the Native Americans while the main fort lay in shambles. With new hope offered by the arrival of the Deliverance and Patience from Bermuda, in addition to three new ships of settlers and supplies arriving from England shortly afterwards, the colony was saved. Edward Eason went on to have another son named William. William went on to have a son named William II, who had William III, who had William IV, who had Solomon, who had Joseph, who had Joseph II, who had Clarence. In 1932, Clarence Eason and his wife gave birth to Clarence II, Arlene's father.

After Arlene had discovered this rich family history in a book she purchased, we visited Bermuda for a 4 day vacation with the intent to mix in relaxation and exploration along with some research into more of Arlene's family history on the island. On our first full day in Bermuda, we rode our rental moped into the historic St. George's village on the north side of the island and stopped by the information center. The attendant was enthralled by Arlene's family history and suggested we drive up the coast and visit a fairly new memorial erected for the 1609 Sea Venture wreck to see if Edward Eason's name was listed on the plaque. We found not only Edward's name on the plaque, but also his wife (listed as mistress) and baby Bermudas. The rest of the trip was magical. The island was beautiful. Everyone we encountered was unbelievably welcoming and friendly to us, even before they heard of Arlene's special link to the island. We got engaged in Norway three months later and decided that Bermuda would be the perfect place to get married, not only because of how much we loved the island and all of the people on it, but also to honor Arlene's late father who had a direct family lineage to the original colonists of Bermuda. We hope you can make the event and that your stay on Bermuda will be as magical as ours!