PHOTOS:

First row: Megan; Lindsay, Jonathan, Riley & Harry; Alan

Second row: Rob; Martín, Nico, Maria & Blas; Spencer

Third row: Justin, Julien & Sara; Paul; Erik

Fourth row: Chuck; Seth & Elayne; Peter

Fifth row: Sean; Nina & Knut; Doug

Sixth row: Aravind & Liz Herle; Alison; Amy (R)

Seventh row: Ted & Donna with Vicky (my niece); Clare; Dylan & Phoebe

Eighth row: Brian (and me!); Anne & Frédérick; Brett

Ninth row: Betsy & Trent, Ines/"Nessy"

PRO TIP: Although not listed here, you can ID Dan's family members by last name – Anders or – wait for it – MANATT!!!

MEGAN LORDOS is my beloved cousin from Ames, Iowa. She's was also Maya & Vikram's English teacher in the Arlington schools, making her this weekend's coolest "TWO-FER" guest.

CONVO STARTER: Ask her how, if her hubby Ryan were here, we would be the weekend's only "Stanford/Duke" Two-Fer guest.

INES "NESSY" FIGUEROA is La Jefa de la Casa Manatt – after years of the kids only eating Dad's "Pasta with Snow Cheese" Ines arrived like a cross of José Andrés and Mary Poppins. Now even CATIE eats seafood (but still not many veggies - ahem!).

CONVO STARTER: Ask Ines about her daughter, the kick-ass Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer.

BRETT DIRESTA is a political consultant, professor of political management, and was best man at Dan's first wedding (whoops!). In the 2000s and 2010s, Brett and Dan pioneered streaming video in the political space, organized an advocacy campaign calling for lower college tuition, and a satirical proto-MAGA group called American for America PAC. Dan and Brett have absolutely nothing to show for any of that except their friendship.

CONVO STARTER: Ask Brett how awkward it is for a Michigan grad to be at Carla "Boomer Sooner" Garrett's wedding.

TED & DONNA BAUER have been our Iowa farm partners for nearly 50 years. Now they split time between Audubon and Buena Vista – one of the coolest towns in Colorado. They are informal/unofficial godparents to all three of my kids. At the bar Saturday you can get a West Iowa Whiskey Sour with Templeton Rye, partly a tribute to Ted and my Dad.

CONVO STARTER: Ask Ted and Donna how shy I was in the 1970s.

DOUG BURNS, Iowa journalist extraordinaire, has developed the Manatt Family Journalism Fellows program, which supports young reporters in the Hawkeye State.

CONVO STARTER: Ask Doug about his key role in the campaign of soon-to-be Senator Josh Turek.

ALAN ARKATOV was (is!) a big brother figure to Tim and Dan growing up in L.A. – an abusive one, but hey. He's made good as a pioneer of online education, a field he's championed for 30 years. My Dad was a mentor to Alan, and he's paid it forward in many ways. He also saved the day when I had a health episode in L.A. a few years ago while alone with the kids – and Alan came to our rescue.

CONVO STARTER: Ask Alan how Dan once sicced the FBI on him accidentally.

SPENCER BOYER has been a middle/high school chum since 1981, and is my group chat political co-conspirator, with the Right Reverend Greg Jones.

CLARE STROUD is Spencer's better half by far, despite having a 50% tariff imposed on her by our idiot president.

CONVO STARTER: Ask Spencer how his NYU Law schoolmate Hakeem Jeffries is feeling about the elections.

BRIAN "McCARTER" McCOTTER was a freshman dormmate of mine, a "fratty frat" brother, a housemate during law school and one of the most loyal friends I know. He's also an international man of mystery – Tel Aviv, South Africa, the Caucasus. He is an even older father than I am. HA!!!

CONVO STARTER: Ask Brian about meeting up at Checkpoint Charlie in 1990.

ARAVIND HERLE is another of the "Duke Trinity" (with Brian and Anne) this weekend, and my closest friend from senior year at Duke. He will also be the party's official physician in the likely event that someone has a cardiac event on the dance floor – a near certainty given the age of this crew.

LIZ HERLE happily brings a little Irish to the couple.

CONVO STARTER: Ask Aravind about his career as part of a cross-dressing Go-Go's tribute band.

ANNE FAIRCLOTH was a close friend from Duke where we tried to make trouble as student journalists. She is an agribusinesswoman bar none, and has an amazing laugh.

FRÉDÉRICK BEAUJEU-DUFOUR is not only her spouse, but also Clinton, NC's answer to the Marquis de Lafayette.

TRENT RICKS was a dear friend at Georgetown Law.

BETSY RICKS bore the first baby Dan ever held – their daughter, Miles (sorry, Vicky). At their lair in Park City (aka "Sin City"), Utah, they have been ENORMOUSLY supportive of Dan during some very hard times – and I will go to the grave with a heart full of gratitude.

CONVO STARTER: Ask Trent about our trip to Yugoslavia as it imploded in spring 1992.

CHUCK ATKINS was the best boss of my life (who saved my Hill career), and he, Seth and I managed the McCain-Feingold discharge petition back in 97-98. A Vietnam Marine Vet, he helped start a non-profit aiding vets returning from deployments in the 2010s.

CONVO STARTER: Ask Chuck for stories about Mitch McConnell in the 1990s.

SETH AMGOTT has been a constant friend since my 1990s congressional days.

His better half ELAYNE HEISLER'S gig is educating members of Congress on healthcare, earning her the nickname "Sisyphus."

And the precocious MOSES was one of Ali's first friends, born a week apart. Thrilled all three are coming.

CONVO STARTER: Ask Seth what it's like to work for Bono.

PETER MIRIJANIAN gets an assist for Dan's 1st dance with Carla; back in the 90s/00s their posse would go dancing weekly to "Sinatra Night" in Adams Morgan, traumatizing innocent young women on the dance floor (BUT we never violated laws or norms).

IRINA MIRIJANIAN is WAY out of Peter's league – like Carla is mine.

CONVO STARTER: Ask Peter about stories from the Clinton campaign days – and working for his client Hooters Airlines.

ERIK "CLETUS" HUEY was named Outlaw Country Recording Artist of the Year 2026 for his LP Fort Defiance. Erik is on Dan's list of top 5 most-energetic 50somethings [sic] (along with Peter and Dylan), leading to suspicions that he uses performance enhancing drugs prescribed by RFK Jr. The West Virginian was in DC 25+ years, but recently moved to Austin, and the DMV is the poorer for it.

CONVO STARTER: Ask him why he moved to Austin and when he's moving back.

ROB RUCK was Dan's co-producer on The Republic of Baseball documentary, and is a professor of history and transnational sports at the University of Pittsburgh. Rob saw and chronicled – way before anyone else – the rise of the international sports development complex, from baseball in the Dominican Republic to football in the Pacific Islands.

CONVO STARTER: Ask Rob why he and Dan refer to each other as "Rico".

PAUL FINKELMAN is Dan's current co-producer on the African American Midwest history project. He is the Stephen King of American legal history – a perpetual motion machine and author of 30 books and 150 scholarly articles. His scholarship contributed to the transformation of America's understanding of the history of slavery.

CONVO STARTER: Ask Paul if there's space left on Saturday's tour of Historic Mitchelville Freedom Park.

LINDSAY & JONATHAN DWORKIN are parents of RILEY DWORKIN, Catie's BFF. Lindsay is head of government affairs at HMH Education, and probably has the most degrees of any wedding attendee (including Boalt Hall!). Jonathan's work at NewDEAL Leaders helped Pete Buttigieg become PETE BUTTIGIEG.

CONVO STARTER: Ask Lindsay and Jonathan how much we miss the B.E. bus in the morning (though they still have it with Harry!)

JUSTIN & SARA LEVITCH's son, JULIEN LEVITCH, was Luke's first friend in grade school and remains one of his BFFs. They are perhaps the nicest native Texans you will ever meet. They also are responsible for Luke's boxing career.

CONVO STARTER: Ask Justin about being a real estate professional who works with NBA stars, and ask Sara about the joys of nursing in the COVID era.

MARTIN SOULIERE & MARIA GAITAN's son, NICO, was one of Luke's longtime soccer teammates on the Sharks – which was a good thing, since they're from Argentina. Nico's now at GDS, but has still gone on the LukePalooza trips to Iowa and HH.

CONVO STARTER: Ask Maria just how easy the last 18 months have been at NIH.

DYLAN CARSON was the Hall of Fame youth soccer coach to the boys' soccer team – The Sharks – and is the most energetic human being I know (tied with Erik Huey and Peter Mirijanian).

PHOEBE ZIMMERMAN is the coolest chick to emerge from the Kansas plains since Dorothy Gale, and hosts the world-famous Lebanese Christmas every year.

Their son OZ has the coolest name and vibe of all.

CONVO STARTER: Ask Dylan what slip and fall law firm he works at (hint: it has Manatt in the name).

SHAWN KRANTZ is the THIRD parent at the wedding with boy/girl twins, including Ali's BFF KEIRA KRANTZ.

He and wife STACIA KRANTZ have the blessing/curse of having the (very stately) house closest to Bethesda Row of all the 11th graders... which means they host A LOT of sleepovers.

CONVO STARTER: Ask Shawn about the highlights of his boating career in and around Annapolis.

ALISON SNOWE was my next-door neighbor for 16 years – and was an incredibly kind friend to this single Dad. Happily she's only a block away now. She's also a passionate social justice crusader.

CONVO STARTER: Ask her about personally knowing Katie and Stephen Miller.

AMY ROSS is my NEW next-door neighbor. She is a professional traveler – international trip every other month on average, every continent, 90+ countries.

CONVO STARTER: Ask her why my daughter Catie calls her place the "Crazy House."

KNUT TJONNELAND & NINA MUNCK are great dog park friends. They became US citizens just before Trump 2.0. Nina, a nurse with MCPS, is my tutor on keeping the kids healthy; Knut, a space engineer, has been my tutor on SpaceX, Starlink, and AI.

CONVO STARTER: Ask them about the OTHER wedding they have in a few weeks.

Carla was absent from this photo at Mom's 90th bday trip because she was back in MD caring for our beloved, ailing pup Skylee :(

RIGHT TO LEFT: Vicky (niece), Michele (sister), Ali, Wolfram (Michele's hubby), Catie, Mom, Fr. Brother Tim, Luke, me. MISSING: Carla, Melanie

Patrick & Melanie (Massholes both)