So a while back, I did a post about the idea of rabbit brides being given away at the altar, a custom found in certain wedding ceremonies of the present day. Well, my brain has cycled back around to the idea of participants in Natalian/rabbit weddings, but this time we're looking at other members of the wedding party. Of course, this is all speculation, as we have yet to see a rabbit wedding in the series (Sam should get on that) and have no idea whether it would look anything like the sort we're familiar with. But ignorance, as they say, is bliss...at least when it comes to speculation on the matter.

Obviously, certain terms probably need some modification, given that "man" and "maid" aren't part of the rabbit vernacular. I like the Biblical term "friend of the bridegroom" as a replacement for best man myself, but don't really know what to do about groomsmen. I'm not sure whether maid of honor or bridesmaid would still work or not...so far as I can recall, Sam's never really given us a term for an unmarried doe versus a married one. Matron of honor definitely works, but I don't feel like there are a ton of married does to take on the role that aren't, well, the mother of either the bride or the groom.

Anyway, linguistics aside, let's break this down according to particular weddings that we know happened.

Jupiter Goodson and Lady Glen

Given that there are several references to Perkin One-Eye having been Jupiter's best friend, he seems the natural choice to have been Jupiter's best "man"/friend of the bridegroom. As for grooms"men", Lord Rake seems a natural candidate, along with Jupiter's other brother (not Bleston). Other lords or future lords-Booker, Felson(?), Hews, Hewson(?), Lokken, Ramnor, Ronan, and Victor were also possible. So, too, might have been various other members of the Lord Captains. I get the impression that the Longtreader brothers may have been considerably younger than Jupiter, so I don't know that any of them would have participated.

As for Lady Glen's attendants...we sadly know nothing about any does she was friends with except Sween, who again strikes me as maybe having been too young at the time. After all, Sween's oldest daughter was of an age with Jupiter and Glen's youngest children. I suppose there's Mrs. Weaver, but I get the impression that they didn't really know each other before the whole "you should let Lord Rake raise your daughter in secret" thing happened. Unless Glen happens to have been friends with, say, Perkin's wife/future wife, or the wives/future wives of Jupiter's other lords and officers, it's rather impossible to say.

Perkin One-Eye and his wife

As Perkin seems the natural choice for Jupiter's friend of the bridegroom, Jupiter would seem to be the natural choice for Perkin's. I could also see the other Lord Captains or various lords being involved. Unfortunately, all we know about his wife is that, well, he obviously had one, given that Perkinson came along at some point.

Lord Hewson and Lynn

Hewson is known to have been friends with both Helmer and Lord Ronan. Given that he later named his youngest son after Helmer, I feel like #LastLordCaptain #BestLordCaptain may have been the friend of the bridegroom on this occasion. Ronan, perhaps, may have been a grooms"man", or have filled in as best "man" if for whatever reason Helmer was unavailable at the time. Lord Lokken may also have been a possibility, given Lokson's eventual "exile" to Harbone. Sadly, we're pretty much in the dark regarding Lady Hewson.

Whittle and Sween Longtreader

This is one wedding where I can imagine things would have been...awkward. Obviously, Whittle would have wanted to include his brothers in the wedding party if rabbits have such things. But given that Garten felt rejected by Sween, it seems highly unlikely that he would have wanted anything to do with the ceremony. Wilfred may thus have found himself compelled-though most likely willingly-to serve as best "man".

Sadly, we know as little about any of Sween's female friends and or relatives as we do of Lady Glen's.

Wilfred Longtreader and his first wife

Depending on at what point Wilfred was married the first time, it may have had an effect on who did what in his wedding party. If this was before Whittle married Sween, maybe the Longtreader brothers were on good terms. If that was so, then Garten may well have acted as best "man" or a grooms"man", and Whittle certainly would have. Assuming everything was hunky-dory, then the biggest question would be which of his two big brothers Wilfred was closer to. As for Wilfred's wife, we don't even know her name, much less who might have been her attendants at the wedding.

Picket and Weezie Longtreader

Finally getting into our point-of-view characters, we have Picket and Weezie. Picket has several bucks to choose from: his (then future) brother-in-law Smalls, Jo, Cole, and even Heyward. Jo seems like he may be a likely candidate for friend of the bridegroom, given that we know Picket and Weezie named one of their sons after him. But then again, he's the only one of Picket's many kids we do know that name of, and for all we know there was a Smalden Longtreader, Coleden Longtreader, and Heyward Longtreader before little Jo finally showed up. Jacks also was presumably involved but given that he was still quite young, perhaps he would have been ringbearer or something.

Weezie, alas, is bereft of the doe who would most likely have been her maid of honor, Layra. We also don't really get told whether she made friends with any of the other prominent does in the series. Heather, her sister-in-law, seems the most likely candidate. I don't get the sense that Weezie and Emma were particularly close, though perhaps that eventually changed. The only other does she interacted with-if you can call it that-were Heyna and Harmony, as they all sat at Picket's table at the first Feast of the Mending.

Smalden and Heather Joveson

If you're wondering why I placed this marriage after Picket and Weezie's, well, Sam did too. Smalls is certainly not lacking in candidates for his attendants, given his nine older brothers. Of course, all of them were also apparently his enemies at one point or another, so who's to say whether they would have felt comfortable taking part in his wedding? Failing that, he also had Picket and Cole as possible options. Probably not Jo though-I don't feel like the moments they had in The Last Archer and The First Fowler were necessarily "I want you in my wedding party" big. Then again, Jo was close with Heather, so...

Speaking of Heather, Emma is going to be her "maid" of honor-no question. Not sure if Heyna and Heather were close enough for Heyna to be included in the party, but Heyna's past friendship with Smalls may play a factor. I feel like Jacks, and maybe the Willow twins, might also participate in roles intended for younger relatives and friends of the intended couple.

Naylen and his wife

All we can really say about this one was that Kylen was undoubtedly the best "man." Yet again, we no absolutely nothing about the bride except that she exists. Though personally I like to think that she's one of Lord Ronan's daughters, and that Ronan either introduced them or, in the event of his death, Naylen sought out Ronan's family after the final battle and ended up meeting her.

Lokson and Amber Hewson

Okay, I know this one hasn't technically happened that we know of, but let's be real. Does anyone really think Sam is going to come along and tell us that one or both of these two died and didn't end up together?

Amber has several siblings who, assuming they also survived the war, seem likely to be in the wedding. Lokson has Cheltham, but his participation would depend on a) him surviving the war, and b) him making things up to Lokson after being such a tool at Blackstone. In any event, I could see Jo being invited to participate, though perhaps he wouldn't feel comfortable after all that happened.

Jo and Emma Shanks

So with these two-wait, what do you mean these two aren't married? What do you mean, there is no third story in The Lost Key that details their happy family life? How dare you suggest that I'm making this all-

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