Pastafarianism, also known as the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, is legally recognized as a religion in Poland, New Zealand and the Netherlands, while in the United States, a federal judge ruled in April that Pastafarianism is not a real religion. Officially, the church recognizes the Flying Spaghetti Monster as their deity, but Pastafarianism is better understood as a satirical take on religious organizations.

With its legal recognition as a religion, this also means that the members of Pastafarianism can be married under the name of this church. And in New Zealand this past week, Toby Ricketts and Marianna Fenn were the first couple to have a legally recognized wedding under the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

According to the newlywed couple, guidelines state that all wedding participants must be dressed as pirates. So Ricketts and Fenn held their wedding on a boat, in New Zealand’s Akaora Harbor, dressed as pirates.

Of their beliefs, members of Pastafarianism technically affirm that humans evolved from pirates and that a Flying Spaghetti Monster created the world. Mention of a Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster first began in a satirical letter addressed to the Kansas State Board of Education in protest to the inclusion of intelligent design in science classes. While Pastafarianism may be considered a religion in certain countries, its root is as a social movement that opposed the teaching of intelligent design and creationism in public schools.

In a statement on their website, the church says “FSM is a real, legitimate religion, as much as any other. The fact that many see this is as a satirical religion doesn’t change the fact that by any standard one can come up with, our religion is as legitimate as any other. And *that* is the point.”

While Ricketts and Fenn are not the first couple to have been wed under the name of Pastafarianism, they are the first of the church to conduct a wedding that is recognized by the federal government. With New Zealand’s recognition of the group as a religion, Karen Martyn gained the legal right to officiate weddings. According to Martyn, “I’ve had people from Russia, from Germany, from Denmark, from all over contacting me and wanting me to marry them in the church because of our non-discriminatory philosophy. We will marry any consenting legal adults who meet the legal requirement.” Martyn also reported that she has at least a dozen more weddings lined up for this year.

When asked about the wedding, Ricketts said, “Marriage wasn’t on the agenda for us; it wasn’t something we needed as we are already deeply committed to one another. But when this opportunity came along we thought it would be a fun tool to examine religion and traditions and practices which are too often taken as a given, as the only way to get married.”