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In Gabriela Citrone’s Connecticut home, there was no rooting for the New England Patriots. 

Gabby, whose family are minority owners of the Pittsburgh Steelers, grew up with a Terrible Towel in hand, cheering for the black and gold as her family flew into Pittsburgh on weekends for football games. 

Early on, Gabby felt an affinity for Pittsburgh. While still a child, she made a big decision about her grown-up life. 

“I always knew that I would fall in love with a Pittsburgh man,” she says. 

Related: Say ‘I Do’ in the 412 with Style Thanks to This Advice from Burgh Brides

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Jokingly, she said her true love would also need to be a member of the Rooney family. As it turns out, she was right.  

On Oct. 28, 2023, Gabby celebrated her marriage to Dr. J. Gannon Rooney — an anesthesiologist whose famous last name needs no introduction in Pittsburgh — in a blowout, Steelers-themed bash for 500 of their friends and family at (where else?) Acrisure Stadium. 

Planned by Pittsburgh-based Wanderlust Weddings + Events, the epic event was one of three weddings the couple held to recognize their union. The first was a small ceremony last August at Mount Washington’s St. Mary of the Mount church, where Gabby’s parents — who hail from Bethel Park and Latrobe — were also married. 

Less than three weeks later, she and Gannon said “I do” again in an elegant dream wedding in Italy’s Tuscany region, surrounded by close family and friends. 

As for their final wedding celebration at Acrisure Stadium? Well, that was just one big, glamorous party. 

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“We love to celebrate, and we love to celebrate big in Pittsburgh style,” says Gabby. “We invited my family, my friends, my mom’s family, my mom’s friends, anyone who had been a part of our love story, to Acrisure Stadium.” 

Ali Simcho, co-founder and event producer for Wanderlust Weddings + Events, says the night’s theme was that the couple and their guests had “broken into” the stadium after dark and threw a major party before having to clear out for a Steelers game the next day. The last part happened to be true. 

“We did have to be out by 1 a.m. so that the Steelers could flip the space for the game the next day, so that was a very big challenge,” Simcho says. 

Guests were welcomed into the stadium by the lively Pittsburgh Steeline drumline before walking a green astroturf carpet and entering one of two elevators, which featured photos from the couple’s weddings on Mount Washington and in Italy, that took them to the main reception. 

“We made terrible towels with the date on it as the wedding invite, so it was not very traditional,” Gabby says. “Somebody even sewed that into a dress shirt and wore it to the event; people had so much fun with this party.”

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Announced by legendary “Voice of the Steelers” Bill Hillgrove, the wedding party entered onto a dance floor made to look like a football field by running through a banner emblazoned with the couple’s names. Instead of flowers, the bridesmaids carried pom poms while the groomsmen waved flags. Every member of the wedding party, including the bride and groom, also ditched the formal footwear in favor of black-and-gold bedazzled sneakers.  

“That was a really fun touch and was also a last-minute thing,” says Gabby, who wore a fitted white gown by Ines Di Santo from Bridal Beginning that exploded into a cascade of ruffles near the knees. “I thought that I was going to have the ladies in heels, but then once we were getting ready, we just decided to switch straight to the sneakers.” 

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The reception also incorporated elements from the couple’s love story. Simcho was able to recreate a section of Mario’s East Side Saloon in Shadyside, where the couple first met during a Jam on Walnut event, by adding wood paneling and a neon sign to the venue. 

Another area of the stadium was turned into Mr. and Mrs. Rooney’s Neighborhood, a play on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” while other seating areas paid tribute to places that are meaningful to the couple, including a homage to Disney World. 

At the trolley-shaped bar, the event’s bartenders donned red cardigans similar to the ones Fred Rogers always wore. The couple’s dog, Baymax, a Havanese, also played a big role in the wedding. Other fun touches were a giant Heinz ketchup bottle with a Mr. and Mrs. Rooney label and a glamorous cake from Bella Christie’s Sweet Boutique in Aspinwall that looked like a football was smashing through it.  

“It was all just very cute, very personal and fun, and something you do not usually see at an event,” says Simcho, who notes Gabby and her mother, Cindy, worked closely with her to execute their vision. “There was never a dull moment; there was so much to do and see. [The guests] were embraced with so much Pittsburgh fun as soon as they showed up at Acrisure.” 

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Instead of a bouquet, Gabby tossed a rhinestone-encrusted football to her guests, which included Troy and Theodora Polamalu. The couple also shared a touching tribute to their close family friend Franco Harris, who signed a Steelers jersey congratulating the couple shortly before he died. 

“He was very, very special to our family, and the day that we got engaged on Dec. 24, 2022 — [it] was at that game that was going to honor his 50-year Immaculate Reception anniversary,” Gabby says. “He passed away in the days before that.”  

The night ended with a grand fireworks display on the football field that was heartily cheered on by guests. Today, the couple, who honeymooned in Mexico, reside in Squirrel Hill. Gabby, 28, is the outreach director of her family’s Citrone 33 Foundation, where she oversees special programs and investments in education, health and human services. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in 2023, Gannon, also 28, is a doctor with UPMC.

PHOTO BY KRISTI TELNOV PHOTOGRAPHY