Even for Eddie Betts this was next-level spontaneous.
One minute the champion Adelaide footballer was relaxing at home looking forward to his long-time partner Anna Scullie's 30th birthday party later that day, the next he was orchestrating their surprise wedding.
The idea was suggested by a couple of friends of Scullie's. The mother of their two children, Scullie changed his life for the better, Betts says. When Scullie's two mates came visiting, pre-party, only to find the birthday girl was not at home, what was originally planned as a traditional milestone shindig evolved into something much more significant.
"It was the day of Anna's 30th. Her two friends came around and brought a present and said 'is Anna here?' " Betts recalled with a smile this week.
"She was off getting her hair done and so they said: 'Do you want to get married? You should just marry her Eddie!'
"I said 'I don't have a ring for her, I don't have a ring for me! I don't have a pastor, I don't have anything!' They said: 'We'll organise it for you, we'll organise it for you!'
"They went out and bought the rings, organised the pastor and Anna didn't know anything of it. So when we went to her 30th we had the speeches and I said 'I love you babe and would you like to marry me?' In front of everybody. And she said: 'What? No! We don't have a pastor.'
"And I said: 'oh, is there a pastor here that could marry us?' and he walked up and did it!
"I didn't know anything about the rings! Her friends brought them to the birthday and I had to get them off them pretty sly!
"It was pretty wild."
Adding weight to the occasion was the wedding commitment was made before a very tightly bonded contingent of Adelaide players, coaches, staff and partners five weeks after the tragic death of Crows senior coach Phil Walsh, along with Betts' and Scullie's close friends and family.
"We'll be doing something smaller down the track with all the family that didn't make it," Betts said.
