You expect the bride to make a spectacular entrance to her wedding - and she did - but she was almost outdone by the groom who arrived in the famous Canberra Raiders car with The Mighty Green Machine song if not blaring, then playing a little bit loudly on the stereo.
Raiders super-fans Dan and Jacqui Hewitt timed their Canberra wedding perfectly, the day after the Green Machine booked its berth in its first grand final in 25 years, putting the happy couple and their guests in a jubilant mood for the September 28 nuptials.
Their celebrant was Todd Burns, also a Raiders volunteer hosting the Club 82 members at each game, Jacqui had a Raiders garter on underneath her dress, the bridesmaids wore green, the flowergirls had little green shamrocks sewn into their frocks, the bouquet was green and Sue Washington's famous Raiders-emblazoned Hyundai sports car, decorated with green tulle, ferried the groom and groomsmen to the ceremony at Gold Creek.
"They'd seen me at the games. I'm acquaintances with a lot of people because of the car and often put posts up reminding people if they'd like to use the car, I don't charge for it," Sue said.
"Dan contacted me a few months ago asking me if the car was available. My first thought was 'Who has a wedding in the footy season?' and then fingers crossed the Raiders didn't play on the day. But it all worked out. The Raiders won on the Friday night and Dan and Jacqui got to use the car on the Saturday."
Sue took Dan and his groomsmen for a lap up and down the Barton Highway before delivering them to the wedding, playing The Mighty Green Machine on the stereo.
Even the bride, who arrived in a restore Chev, was excited by the Raiders car.
"She was a bit late and when she came in there was a bit of a fuss and everyone was fluffing out her dress and then Jacqui spotted me, I wasn't a guest or anything, I was just over to the side, and calls out to me, 'Yeah Sue! Go the Raiders!'."
Jacqui and Dan, who went to school together at Melba High and Copland College, reconnected over social media more than two years ago. They saw they had a shared interest in the Raiders - he was a fan and she worked behind the counter in Bar No.6 at the Raiders games.
"She gave me a beer and a hotdog and the rest, they say, is history," Dan said.
Jacqui, who works at Questacon, had been a Bulldogs fan.
"But she's come back to the fold," Dan said.
They loved their green-tinged big day.
"We couldn't have asked for a better wedding. The weather was beautiful, lots of dancing. A lot of people actually said it was the best wedding they'd ever been to," Dan said.
The couple were poolside in Thailand on their honeymoon on Thursday and will be watching the grand final from their resort.
"I've already downloaded an app to watch it," Dan said.
"I was going to find a pub that was playing it but we're an hour away from Phuket so I thought I'd stay by the pool and watch it, with a cocktail." A green one, we hope.
Dan, a manager for Tradelink plumbing supplies, said he was confident the Raiders would win and remembered the buzz in Canberra for the 1994 grand final.
"I've already told work if they win I'm taking another week off to party," he said.
Celebrant Todd Burns said he met the couple on one of the buses he organised to take Raiders fans to away games in Sydney.
"They're a great couple," he said. "When they set the date, I thought it was a little bit of a scary date because of the football season. But they're really passionate and it all turned out wonderfully."
