Pre-game jitters? Tailgate wedding as 2 tie knot before Saints kick off season against Vikings

Pre-game jitters? Tailgate wedding for 2 fans

NEW ORLEANS — Tailgating crowds all but drowned out the pre-game wedding vows. But newlywed Gloria Darlene Paige looked resplendent in 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 New Orleans opened against Minnesota.

And not just for better or for worse — but for another Saints’ Superbowl victory.

“I want us to two-dat,” Vanderpool said, New Orleans-speak for a championship repeat.

Paige suggested a September wedding. Vanderpool, a lifelong Saints fan, chose the date. He sees many in the crowd only during football season but says, “They’re family.”