Suddenly, from the back of the hall, a voice rang out. “I object to this union!” cried the Coastal Carolina Chanticleer, frantically waving his wings. “The bride is really in love with me!”
That’s how it played out in my version, anyway. In real life, Johannes Schneider, described as a “Winthrop Eagles superfan,” married Michelle Waters on Sunday on the Winthrop campus, with the Winthrop mascot, Big Stuff, walking down the aisle and giving away the groom. Just like you see it in the movies.
The crowd was a bit clueless at first as the minister and father of the groom, a normally serious fellow named the Rev. Wolfgang Schneider, from Germany, told them they were going to witness something “unusual.”
“Not only will the bride be given away,” Wolfgang Schneider told the audience of friends and family, “but since my son is such a big fan of Winthrop, we have someone to give him away, too.”
All gawked, then clapped and cheered, and a little girl about age 3 blurted out: “It’s a big chicken!”
An eagle, to be exact. Video here.
My favorite part:
Schneider, 29, was such a fan during his undergraduate days at Winthrop that he founded the fan club, the ‘WU Crew.’ He attended all home games wearing face paint and a Winthrop flag covering his lower regions rather than pants. Sometimes he wore no shirt, just a painted “E” for Eagles.
“My son sure loved college,” said his smiling mother, Helen Schneider.
Two more things of which you should be aware: It was the bride’s idea to have Big Stuff give away the groom. And, in case you thought Big Stuff went stag …
Big Stuff even brought a date — Winthrop student Nicole Harm.
“He said, ‘I’m in a wedding, come with me,’” Harm said. “I figured, great. I love weddings. Then he said, “It’s, umm, as Big Stuff. I’m Big Stuff in the wedding.’”
Harm attended Saturday anyway.
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Winthrop superfan escorted to altar by mascot [Herald Online]
