Stephanie & Daniel
The Wedding Party
Natalia
Matron of Honor
Kindergarten best friend and soul mate. We had our own table at lunch in grade school because the cool kids' table just wasn't as fun. I've been opening her ketchup packets for her and quoting The Hot Chick with her ever since. My voice of reason & my constant.
Alex
Best Man
Receptive & Transparent: I met Alex not knowing that eventually I would find in him parts of myself that I left back home in Peru. Our relationship evolved from sleeping on the same mattress after long hours of studying together during the hardest semester of our lives, to enjoying car rides alongside the Lake Shore Drive the summer of 2011 listening to The Weeknd, to sharing with our families at each other’s homes. I can talk and trust him with anything I may be going through. Any conversation with him is nourishing to my spirit, and even best if paired up with a good whiskey neat. He is my truest counsel and my soul brother.
Cate
Maid of Honor
College co-worker, post-grad roommate, and travel buddy. Eating food is our passion and together we're unstoppable. She once described a two-hour movie to me while we were waiting at a train station in Spain at 4am and it only took her an hour. My partner in crime & soul sister.
Jafet
Groomsman
Dreamer & Free-spirited: My relationship with Jafet was rocky when I first met him at the age of 12. He wanted a little brother to bother, and I wanted to not be bothered while I understood myself a bit better during these changing years. But we were both in the same boat and needed each other. After we migrated to Chicago at the same age and during the same time, we needed someone to grow with and reminisce on our childhood back at home, so we became each other’s support. Without realizing it, we created a wonderful brotherhood that gave us innumerable memories together. Our friendship was based on music and being free. And how free we were. No words can express how much I gained from my relationship with him and his family. He is my first adoptive brother and longtime partner in crime.
Bre
Bridesmaid
High school best friend, college roommate, one half of Brephanie, and one fourth of BASH. On our first day of high school, I thought it was weird we had the exact same schedule. Years later, we were inseparable and realized we shared a brain. My inspiration & first wife.
Felipe
Groomsman
Visionary & Driven: When I met Felipe, alongside Alex and Louie, I knew we were polar opposites - we wouldn’t work. Diplomatic as I’ve always been, I didn’t push away, but instead just allowed for some wiggle room in our relationship. We studied some time together when I realized we were complementary in ways of learning – I was learning from him as much as he was learning from me. After a couple of heart-aches, I realized how similar we were – he also held parts of myself I was not aware of. This evolved into spending time together and having chats about love and the heart. We became talking hearts together. He is my kindred soul and spiritual brother.
Alejandro
Bridesman
High school best friend and one fourth of BASH. We both have absurd and slightly dark imaginations, like to eat (and cook) a lot of food together, and enjoy hanging out with his mom. My adventurous life inspiration & most charming friend.
Tony
Groomsman
Pure-hearted & Jovial: While I met everyone here in an academic setting, I met Tony at the Silver Bullet in Urbana. Luckily neither of us were too focused on the artistry around us as much as we were interested in striking a fun conversation together. I was about to graduate, and moving to Chicago soon, so we coordinated and met up in the city to view apartments together and get to know each other. Without a delay, I was enchanted with the spirit that emanated from him. His interest for sincerity and being a young soul was refreshing to me. We eventually moved together and learned how to live with each other. Our relationship is based on good music, good food, laughing together, and literally everything else that makes the soul smile. He is my inspiration for creativity and tenderness.
Huda
Bridesmaid
High school best friend and one fourth of BASH. We enjoy making fun of Alejandro together and sharing recipes, tv show recommendations and obsessions with random things. Like that one local celebrity in high school. My kindest & most wholesome friend.
Cesar
Groomsman
Loyal & Energizing: I had just turned 15 when I met Cesar at Pritzker. Introverted as I have always been, his extroversion was a magnet for our conversations together. His big personality and big smile were always the first thing I could scan in the room, and it so happened that we had most of our classes together. From band, to soccer practice, to applying to college and getting in to U of I together, we have passed many of our milestones together. It wasn’t until I realized that Chicago was a home for me that I realized he made me feel like home whenever we’d be together, and so our relationship grew deeper as we continued to share exhilarant moments together. He is my support, present in all stages of development.
Sana
Bridesmaid
College Alternative Spring Break volunteer board friend and post-grad roommate. We have the best ideas together, like sampling the entire liquor cabinet for cleaning purposes and watching dance videos. My fashion icon & most passionate friend.
Erick
Groomsman
Open-hearted & Passionate: I met Erick at a point when I wasn’t introverted enough for people to choose me as their friends, but he chose me as one. I like to think that he chose consciously by noticing that I was also a free-spirited Latin American kid with an accent, and unconsciously because he knew I needed a big brother. Our first-time meeting he hosted me at his apartment in Champaign and made Lomo Saltado for us – I had never made felt like at home in a stranger’s house. He didn’t know that the last time a man made me Lomo Saltado it was my brother Franco back in Peru – he didn’t know what this did to my heart, but he did it because something told him he had to. He is the big brother that the Universe gifted me because I needed one. He is my personification of real brotherhood.
Allyson
Bridesmaid
My two-time work wife of 5+ years. We root for each other nonstop and keep each other sane in the corporate universe. One time at a work training event, she lost her glasses and had to wear prescription sunglasses to class after we couldn't find them. Turns out they were inside of the bed frame. My most honest and hilarious friend.
Louie
Groomsman
Reflective & Firm: I saw a lot of myself in Louie the moment we met in Champaign during the spring of 2011. It was almost too easy: he was also from Humboldt Park, loved music to an elemental level, and cracked the right jokes at the right time. Even if I never delivered jokes in my life, Louie reflects a part of my family that does. He is intuitively a part of my family, so much to the point that we have an unbreakable, multifaceted bond. He is one of the few hearts that my soul can sit inside and still feel at home, much because of our relationship, but mostly due in part that Louie’s heart is everybody’s heart. He is my strength and a reflective soul of my entire community.