NEW ORLEANS -- Tailgating crowds all but drowned out the pregame wedding vows. But newlywed Gloria Darlene Paige looked resplendent in a white pantsuit, sporting a black-and-gold beaded headpiece in the Saints' colors.
She and groom Charlie Vanderpool, whose black rose boutonniere featured a tiny Saints helmet, kicked off wedded life Thursday on a packed parking lot near the Louisiana Superdome before their favorite team's season opener against the Minnesota Vikings.
And the couple isn't in it just for better or for worse -- but for another Saints' Super Bowl victory.
"I want us to two-dat," Vanderpool said, New Orleans-speak for a championship repeat.
Paige suggested a September wedding, and Vanderpool, a lifelong Saints fan, chose the date. He sees many in the crowd only during football season but said, "They're family."
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press