You may recall that Mr. Whale and I kind of have an obsession with manatees…
Visiting the manatees at the zoo! (Personal photo)
What I haven’t told you yet is that we have a few friends who share our obsession. In particular, the manatee craze began one strange evening as Mr. Whale, our friend Mike, and I sat down to watch the movie Muppets Take Manhattan. I wish I could tell you this really awesome story about how it all went down, but unfortunately it’s one of those epic inside jokes that wouldn’t really make sense…
ANYWAY, the point is that Mike and the Whales love manatees.
Image from Wanelo.com
While we were selecting our wedding party, Mr. Whale and I discussed how we would both like to have Mike stand on each of our sides. He’s closer to Mr. Whale, but he’s also one of my very close friends. We’ve shared a ton of good times together.
We built an igloo during Snowmageddon 2010.
He’s in the band with Mr. Whale and me. (That’s Mike on the drums. I’m off to the right out of the photo.)
Someone snapped this candid at a party. It’s our standard hang-out pose. 
So, you see, we wanted to share Mike. But there just didn’t really seem to be a good way to do that. And then I had a brilliant idea.
He can be the best man…atee! Best Manatee!!
It’s totally silly and ridiculous, but it’s just weird enough to be perfect for us. And yes, that’s how he will be listed in the program. As far as where he’ll stand, that actually fits into another story that may be next. Stay tuned.
I’m so curious. Has anyone else come with a totally weird idea that you’re doing anyway? We can’t decide if people will just roll with it or if they’ll think we’ve lost our minds.
we haven’t done anything completely out of the ordinary…
we live in tampa, fl… and there’s a couple of places close to here where you can go swim with the manatees. oh and last year, i went to this place called apollo beach… there’s a power plant and a river next to it that meets up with the gulf, and in the springtime there are hundreds and hundreds of manatees. i think you and mr.whale mat need to take a road trip to tampa! lol
Thats so cool, love how that works out. Its one of those things that makes your wedding personal & special you and your friends! My friends and I always give each other crazy nicknames, so we have included their nicknames on the website, probably will put them in the programs, and definitely will use them when doing bridal party introductions!
We also have a friend like that. He was Mr. T’s roommate in college, but we’ve become very close. Technically, we listed him as a groomsman because Mr. T did know him first, but he came to my bachelorette party and I called him my bridesman.
Aww, I love the idea of having a “Best Manatee”: I wish I would have thought of a way to have our mutual guy friends stand up for both of us. We just decided to have our mutual guy friends on his side and mutual girl friends on his side, just for simplicity’s sake.
This is perfect, it obviously fits your relationship with your Best Manatee.
Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MD Age and Occupation: 27, Graduate Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate Student Engagement Date: March 10, 2012 Wedding Date: May 2013 Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GA About Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
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