On Becoming Manly

EDITED TO ADD: I wrote this post last night in the hopes of it adding some lightheartedness to the aftermath of such a devastating weekend. I am only just now seeing that many of you have chosen to be "silent" today to pay respect to the victims and I just wanted to say that my own heart has been heavy with grief over what has happened and I hope no one thinks I'm not being sensitive enough to the tragedy that occurred. 

Disclaimer: This is an entirely non-running, wedding related post.

The other day while being annoyed over still not having our professional wedding photo's back I realized that there was a part of the wedding weekend that I have the pictures for, that you might enjoy hearing about: the rehearsal dinner. Now I know, most of you are probably rolling your eyes and thinking, "rehearsal dinner's are lame," and I would generally agree, except in the event that you are marrying in to Spike's family. See, Spike's family has a unique tradition of bestowing the new son/daughter-in-law with their "manly" name and that is something worth being excited for!

To explain what this means, I must first take you back to the days of Spike's youth, where once upon a time there was a day of yard work that all the kids were grumbling about when Spike's older cousin said, in not so many words, that they all needed to man up. After the little "pep" talk the kids retaliated by informing their older cousin that he was full of it, right up to his not-so-manly first name; at which time he adopted a new, manlier name right then and there and thus, the "Manly Clan" was born. Each family member adopted a "manly" name that, to this day, they all go by. So if you ever wondered where "Spike" came from, now you know. And I am being 100% serious when I say that they all go by these names as if they were their given ones. (For instance, the nieces and nephews all call him "Uncle Spike" and after a few months I finally had to ask Spike what his mom and dad's real names were because I only knew them by their manly names!)

Now that you know the history, let me lay out the rules for choosing the new inductee's "manly" name:

1. Neither the inductee nor their spouse-to-be are allowed to have any say in the choosing of their manly name. 
2. Only the other members of the manly clan get to submit ideas and vote on the final name, of which all ideas must be based on some merit the others deem "manly" that the person has exhibited.
3. The manly name is bestowed during a special ceremony during the rehearsal dinner.

That said, let's get back to the rehearsal dinner shall we? So there we are, just finishing up dinner when "Buck," Spike's dad, stands and a hush falls over the crowded room. Everyone has anxiously been awaiting this moment, personally, I am super excited, having witnessed Spike's sisters' husband receive his manly name not long ago. I couldn't wait to be inducted in to the clan/fam and learn my new name! (Up until this point I had been referred to as TBD)

I love how this pic captures my excitement during Buck's speech

After Buck gave a short speech and brief history of the Manly Clan for all the non-Spike family guests in attendance, it was time. The big reveal! It's done by an issuing of a new shirt for all the members which lists all the names of the manly clan to date on the back, with the newest members in the last spot.

Ta-da!

And thus my manly name is, Ross:

Now, you're probably wondering, but why Ross? Well, quite frankly, I did too. And no one would tell me until a few weeks later when the wise older cousin, founding member of the Manly Clan referenced above, gave me the smallest of hints: look to the front of the shirt. Hmmm... It's a flag and when one thinks of flags and the name Ross what comes to mind? Betsy Ross, the creator of the American flag of course! She is certainly one tough chic and more importantly, the flag correlation is ingenious! Some of you may or may not recall that as part of Spike's proposal to me he had a flag made up that I had designed for us to unveil when we were married someday. So while Betsy may have created our nation's first flag, I created OUR flag and thus I am dubbed RRRRRRRRRRRoss. (I like to roll the "r" and make it sound gruff and manly) So there you have it, how I became "Manly", and someday we'll get to induct our children and their significant other's into the clan, keeping the tradition alive for generations to come.

EDIT: Pro-pics have finally come in! Read the wedding recap HERE and the reception recap HERE.

Does your family or significant other's family have any random/awesome traditions when it comes to weddings or other such events? If you could pick your own manly name, what would it be?