Veterinarian bride and groom have their pet tortoise serve as ring bearer

A sulcata tortoise.
(Image credit: Theodore Lim/AFP via Getty Images)

When it came to choosing a ring bearer for their wedding, exotic animal veterinarians Ericka and Jay Johnson knew they had the right tortoise for the job.

Ericka and Jay, who met 20 years ago while doing a wild tortoise survey, are the proud owners of Tom Shelleck, a sulcata tortoise. They knew he would make a charming, albeit slow, ring bearer, and Ericka told SWNS they would "practice to see how long it would take, and we ended up having to have two songs played so we'd have enough time, and we still almost ran out of songs."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.