We planned our wedding for the day of the Final Four. Will Duke-UNC make the reception?

We planned our wedding for the day of the Final Four.

It seemed reasonable. Since 2017, Carolina hadn’t made it past the Sweet Sixteen. My fiancée Grace and I, both UNC grads and fans, knew the last two seasons were the worst back-to-back records since pre-Roy Williams.

And then last Friday night, the Tar Heels beat UCLA off an unbelievable hot streak from Caleb Love. Grace looked at me and said “Okay, so should we start thinking about the Final Four?”

“We can think about that Sunday at 7,” I said. What can I say? I’m a believer in jinxes.

It started to feel real for the first time as the team got up on Saint Peters 27-9 in the first half, as we watched from behind a family Zoom wedding shower. And then, as the buzzer signified a Tar Heels win by 20, we just looked at each other and laughed.

“Are you serious?” Grace said.

Meeting at UNC

Grace and I met freshman year at UNC, living on the same floor of Hinton James Residence Hall. We shared close friends and eventually, in our sophomore year, the obvious happened with a first date to Top of the Hill.

Just weeks later, we were storming Franklin Street together after the Tar Heels put Gonzaga away for the school’s sixth championship.

I have often called that the best night of my life and – again, no jinxes here – it could be topped by a country mile on Saturday night.

The game will be on during the reception

To answer the burning question, the game will, in fact, be on during our reception.

Thankfully, the UNC-Duke game was given the late tip-off start time (8:49 p.m.) and we will be well past the ceremony, dinner, toasts, and other festivities and an hour into the dance floor portion of the night.

Whether or not to watch the game wasn’t a question for us. In our two years of dating in college, we went to every single home game together. Grace went to all four Duke games, I went to three. We waited for hours outside of the Dean Dome with friends, we rushed for parking at the baseball stadium, we ran to the same seats every game behind the opposing bench and ate the same soggy Bojangles in the hour before tip.

We even watched the 2017 Final Four game against Oregon at her sorority formal – meaning, yes, we are 1-0 at formal events and obviously good luck.

So, we have borrowed a projector from our very gracious friends, State fans by the way. It will be placed just behind the DJ, who we just found out is a Duke fan. We’ll play music throughout the game so the dancing can continue for those who aren’t quite as game-focused as we are.

If the Heels start losing, we can just turn it off. Who cares? We’re married! If we win, we’ll probably cry again for the umpteenth time of the day.

Regardless, on Saturday night, Grace and I will finally be married. What a great day to be a Tar Heel.

Trent Brown is a former News & Observer staff writer.

This story was originally published March 31, 2022 at 10:00 AM.