HAVERHILL — A flower girl threw penalty flags instead of petals as Robin Peebles walked down her astro-turf aisle to say “I do” at the goal line, yesterday afternoon.
Just down the street, the “Monday Night Football” theme blared as Greg and Louann Santos’ parents walked into the newlyweds’ reception and sat at the “Bill Belichick” table.
They were two weddings Tom Brady would have been proud of.
“We wanted it to be a party, and we love the New England Patriots,” Peebles said. “We told everyone they have to wear Patriots gear, jerseys, anything. We even sent (Patriots owner) Robert Kraft an invitation.”
Though the two couples had never met, both the Peebleses of Derry, N.H., and Santoses of Methuen held Patriots-themed wedding receptions yesterday afternoon, a half a mile from each other in Haverhill.
It’s a strange coincidence.
With the Patriots now the only undefeated team in the National Football League — 9-0 after their win over the Indianapolis Colts — both couples figured that weddings focused on their favorite team might bring luck to the athletes and their marriages.
“Everyone expected this,” Louann Santos said before cutting her cake at the Roma Restaurant. “I always told people I would have a Patriots-themed wedding. ... It’s everything I hoped for.”
Greg Santos proposed to Louann, an Eagle-Tribune ultimate Patriots fan in 2006, at Gillette Stadium last December. But her Patriots wedding ended up becoming a marriage of champions, when the couple included the Red Sox in the theme; Greg is a diehard baseball fan.
Her table centerpieces were tributes to Patriots and Red Sox players — complete with placards bearing different players’ jerseys and names on them. Family members sat at the coaches’ tables. She found a red, blue and white Patriots garter on eBay that she wore under her dress.
The attire was still formal, with bridesmaids wearing Patriots blue dresses and carrying Red Sox white and red flowers.
Louann’s dress was cut so that her trademark “Flying Elvis” tattoo showed.
“I was with her when she got the tattoo,” said maid of honor Colleen Mota of Methuen. “I said, ‘What if you get married?’ She said, ‘Colleen, I’m going to have a Patriots wedding.’ ... But she did it, not too over the top.”
But at the Peebles wedding, at the Elks Lodge, it was all about going over the top for their team.
Robin Peebles’ brother, Sam Barbeau, was dressed as a Colonial patriot as he walked her down the aisle. The justice of the peace traded in black and white vestments for a referee’s outfit, calling out penalties and plays as he administered the vows.
The bride threw a football instead of a bouquet at the reception.
Robin Peebles met her husband, James, back in March. They had both been married before, so they wanted to keep this casual and fun.
“It started as a big joke,” James Peebles said. “And it just snowballed. Everyone threw in their two cents. And we ended up with this. It’s something that’s probably never been done.”
Frank Novak, the justice of peace, said his friend gave him a Patriots almanac so he could brush up on plays and facts before the wedding.
“I wanted to put a lot of humor into it, but keep the spirit of the affair,” Novak said. “Everyone remembers their own wedding. This is a wedding everyone who goes to will remember.”
Both couples flipped when they heard Patriots coach Belichick was only a few miles away in North Andover yesterday, watching his son’s football team play the Brooks School squad.
“He should have come. He’d have a great time,” Louann Santos said. “He can sit at the Belichick table.”
Merrimack Valley
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Tim Jean
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Football team the theme of two weddings
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