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'We're math geeks': TODAY weds couple at 9:10 on 11/12/13

Who gets married on a Tuesday? Early in the morning? In the middle of November? Shanel Manzano and Elliot Bryant, two self-professed “math geeks,” that’s who.The New York couple wed Tuesday during a live TODAY ceremony that not only marked their commitment to each other, but a special sequence of numbers.The couple officially became husband and wife at exactly 9:10 am on Nov. 12, 2013.In ot

Who gets married on a Tuesday? Early in the morning? In the middle of November?

Shanel Manzano and Elliot Bryant, two self-professed “math geeks,” that’s who.The New York couple wed Tuesday during a live TODAY ceremony that not only marked their commitment to each other, but a special sequence of numbers.

The couple officially became husband and wife at exactly 9:10 am on Nov. 12, 2013.

In other words, they got married at 9:10 on 11/12/13.

“Let’s get started. Welcome to this very New York celebration of your marriage,” declared Deborah Roth, the interfaith minister who officiated the brief ceremony.

Manzano and Bryant aren’t alone in their decision to get married Tuesday.

According to the wedding website TheKnot.com, about 3,000 couples registered to get married on 11/12/13. That’s four times as popular as any other Tuesday in November.

Sequential dates, as well as repeat dates like 9/09/09, historically make popular wedding dates.

David’s Bridal conducted a recent poll that found 40 percent of brides considered planning their wedding on a special day like Tuesday — or a year from now on a date with a similar memory aid.

The newlyweds and their TODAY wedding guests toast to their lucky day.
The newlyweds and their TODAY wedding guests toast to their lucky day.Today

"11/12/13 is a sequential pattern, and we have learned that couples love dates that have patterns,” said Brian Beitler, the company’s chief marketing officer, in a statement. “The last consecutive series of the century will occur next year, 12/13/14. It falls on a Saturday, so we predict this date could reach record breaking numbers."

Manzano and Bryant, both 27, said they originally planned to get married on this date, in a park on New York's Upper East Side, when the chance to get married on TODAY came along.

“We both like incremental numbers and fluidity. And we’re also math geeks, so if you add 11, 12, 13, it equals 9, which means long life,” Manzano, a senior account manager, told TODAY’s Willie Geist from the Orange Room before the ceremony.

The couple met while attending high school in California, and even went to a sophomore dance together. After Bryant’s family moved away, the two kept in touch.

“We separated into our lives and we went into different directions, but kept in contact, somehow found each other again and reconnected,” said Bryant, a special education teacher.

Bryant proposed to Manzano in front of the Eiffel Tower in September.
Bryant proposed to Manzano in front of the Eiffel Tower in September.Today

Bryant, who proposed to Manzano this past September in Paris in front of the Eiffel Tower, called his bride “my rock.”

“She’s my counsel. I go to her for everything. If I ever have a problem, she’s my solution,” he said.

Manzano’s father gave the bride away, leading her to a special TODAY altar that featured a fall backdrop and a wedding arch.

The bride and groom’s immediate family, along with their dog, Napoleon, who served as the ring bearer, sat nearby.

When Roth pronounced them man and wife, they kissed, and were met with glasses of Champagne and congratulatory wishes from TODAY anchors.

Asked about how nervous she was, Manzano said she surprisingly wasn’t.

“It went by fast,” she said with a laugh.

Geist then asked the couple how they felt about awkward wedding guests.

“Are you cool with Natalie dancing at the reception, because it gets a little weird sometimes,” he said.

“We’re totally cool with that,” Manzano said.

TODAY viewers offered their best wishes and advice for the couple in tweets to the #OrangeRoom.