Brother keeps his teenage promise to bring a llama to his sister's wedding

Mendl Weinstock's plus-one at his sister's wedding wasn't your typical date.

Five years ago, when Mendl and his sister, Riva Weinstock, were on a family road trip, Riva was "talking about her wedding as if she was planning on having it the next day," Mendl told Today. "At the time, she was 17 and not even dating anyone, so this was naturally annoying me, having to hear about it for five hours."

Wanting to push her buttons, Mendl told her the only way he would attend her future wedding was if he brought a llama with him. An irritated Riva told him to go ahead, and "ever since that day and those words, I have vowed that when she got married I would bring a llama to the wedding," Mendl said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

As soon as Riva announced her engagement last October, Mendl set out to find a llama. He told his sister the plan, and she "had to realize that this was for real," Riva told Today. Mendl arrived on the big day this winter with a llama named Shocky, and he even had a friend make the llama a custom tuxedo and yarmulke. Riva was amused but said Shocky had to stay outside. He was a hit, greeting guests who stopped to take photos with the sharply dressed llama. Riva is already dreaming up ways to show up her little brother when he ties the knot. "I will absolutely be exacting my revenge," she said. Catherine Garcia