The friendly confines of Duffy’s, 76 S. Cherry St. in Galesburg, is always a special place for Chicago Cubs fans on opening day.

But Thursday, the legendary Cubs bar added something new — hosting a wedding before the first pitch.

Superfans Chris McKillip and Nancy Reed, who met at Duffy’s more than five years ago, were married shortly before the Cubs’ 1:20 p.m. opener against the Washington Nationals.

“My most fun time here is opening day,” said bartender Mark Bryant. “By the luck of the draw, I’ve been here every opening day for the last eight years.”

Fortunately for the couple, Bryant also happens to be an ordained minister and was on hand to perform the ceremony, billed as “Getting hitched before the first pitch” on koozies handed out to guests attending the 10 a.m. service.

The time of Thursday’s event was no problem. Duffy’s opens at 7 a.m. every day, a throwback to when third-shift factory workers needed a place to stop for a beer on their way home.

For 32 years, owner Rose St. George has entertained packed houses at the Galesburg bar in a cozy atmosphere surrounded by vintage tin ceilings, old jerseys hanging on the walls alongside pennants, flags, posters, season schedules and even an Old Style neon sign. When a Cubs player hits a home run, everybody gets a free beer.

“I’ve met some of the best people here,” said St. George. “I have the best customers in the world.”

McKillip recalled how the couple met 5 1/2 years ago.

“I came in and there was an open seat at the bar next to her,” he said. “A Cubs player came to bat I didn’t know and I asked, ‘Who is this guy?’

“She told me, ‘He’s a late-season call-up from Iowa,’ and knew everything about him.

“It was love at first sight after that.”

Reed remembered the same moment.

“I was sitting here and he sits next to me and asks, ‘Are you married?’

“I said, ‘No,’ but then he asked, ‘What’s that ring on your finger?’

“I said that’s to keep the wolves away.”

It was a marriage made in Cubs heaven.

For years, the couple considered a wedding in Las Vegas but recently realized the advantages of a ceremony at Duffy’s.

“It’s opening day and everybody I know takes the day off,” said McKillip. “We didn’t need to send out invitations.”

Plans for the wedding came together quickly. St. George only learned about it a week prior.

“I thought it was going to be low-key. I didn’t know it was going to be as big as it was,” she said.

“I was fine with it. It was short and sweet.”

“We had it all planned in about one day,” said Reed. “Talk about spontaneous.”

Shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday, Reed walked through Duffy’s front door in a full white wedding dress she’d bought only two days before and down a narrow path to the back of the bar, where Bryant conducted a brief ceremony. Their vows ended with each promising “To bleed Cubbie blue until I die.”

Later, they joined the standing-room-only Cubs faithful, who grew silent and removed hats for the national anthem, cheered for Cubs hits and runs, sang along with the seventh-inning stretch and groaned every time the Nationals scored.

The only damper on the day was the Cubs’ 10-4 loss.

That’s something Cubs fans have experienced thousands of times in the 32 years of St. George’s ownership. Losses have done little to dampen spirits or overshadow special times at Duffy’s — like big wins over the rival St. Louis Cardinals, playoff games and the 2016 World Series championship.

And it might always be that way.

“If I ever sell this place — and eventually I will because I’m getting old — I’ll tell whoever buys it you can’t change this bar,” said St. George.