Most couples call fowl when an uninvited guest shows up at their wedding, but Victoria Tinker and Davis Owens made an exception for an old (fine-feathered) friend. 

Sporting a suit jacket, shirt, and his signature AU blue sneakers for the black-tie affair, Clawed Z. Eagle crashed the couple’s May 6 nuptials, surprising them on the dance floor as they shook their tailfeathers during the reception at the Ritz-Carlton in Georgetown.

The special guest was a wedding present from Tinker’s mother, Sandra Spurgeon, who knew the big ol’ bird held a big ol’ place in the couple’s heart.

Tinker, an associate at Shulman Rogers, and Owens, who works in communications at the US Agency for International Development, met in economics class on their first day of college in 2013. Owens was a member of AU’s mascot team, playing Clawed for all four years of his college career, and Tinker was a swimmer. After he asked her on a date at the shuttle stop in Tenleytown, the lovestruck eagerly began showing up at Tinker’s meets at the Reeves Aquatic Center.

“We’ve been together ever since,” says Owens.

Six years after he donned the 20-pound costume for the final time—and 16 months after the couple got engaged on New Year’s Day 2022—the reliable raptor came in clutch again. 

“I’m not a big fan of surprises, but I absolutely loved it,” says Tinker, who lives in DC with Owens and their rescue dog, Brooks. “We had a ton of friends from AU at the wedding, and everyone just went crazy.”