Wedding Party
Annalise Graves
Bride
Annalise has been looking forward to her wedding day for 27 years. She has seen every episode of say yes to the dress. She cannot wait for the happiest day of her life! Annalise will graduate from UNC School of Law in May 2024, and she is moving to Columbia, South Carolina to clerk for the South Carolina Court of Appeals.
Johnathon Slife
Groom
John will be at the wedding too! He likes planes. John flies F-16s for the U.S. Air Force. He is currently stationed at Shaw AFB in Sumter, South Carolina Shortly after the wedding, John will find out his next assignment, which will likely be abroad!
Grace Forren
Maid of Honor
Cousins by chance, best friends by choice: this was their favorite way to caption Facebook photos in middle school (and, it's true!) Neither Annalise nor Grace have sisters, but they've always had each other. One time they did "hand claps" in a talent show at violin camp. Interestingly, all the other participants in the violin camp talent show played the violin.
Paul Slife
Best Man
Paul is John's younger brother. He likes boats. Growing up, they enjoyed many of the same activities, but they split paths when looking at possible careers. John became a pilot, while Paul pursued a similar-yet-opposite career operating submarines. But they still share many interests, like complaining about their time consuming jobs.
Julia Tobin
Bridesmaid
Julia and Annalise met during club soccer tryouts during their freshmen year. Julia played matchmaker by setting up John and Annalise...thanks Julia! After graduation, Annalise and Julia stayed in touch via 20 minute voice memos. Annalise was thrilled to welcome Julia to UNC in 2023 as she began her orthodontics residency. From Bulldogs to Tar Heels, these two can make anything fun.
Sebastian Rivero
Groomsman
Seb and John were randomly assigned suitemates during their freshmen year. They hosted many a party in A33. Seb and John took almost every single class together at Yale. They worked incredibly hard to become ABET certified mechanical engineers. John now flies planes; Seb works in finance. John and Seb now speak to each other exclusively over x-box. Also, Seb dates Julia.
Lili Clark
Bridesmaid
Annalise and Lili were randomly assigned suitemates during their freshmen year and have been best friends ever since! (Thank you Yale!) In addition to living together all four years, they were in the same a cappella group (check out the New Blue of Yale on Spotify), share a love of dessert, and look forward to a lifetime of coffee dates.
Andrew Ruys de Perez
Groomsman
Andrew (whom we call Andre) lived with John and Seb freshmen and senior year. Why he chose to put up with them again, nobody knows. He's pursuing a PhD, he loves critical theory, and he will probably the smartest person at the wedding. One time, Annalise and Andre beat John and Seb in a game of beer pong. It was their proudest moment of college.
Adriana Lopez
Bridesmaid
Adriana lived across the hall from Annalise and Lili during their freshmen year. The girls quickly bonded when Adriana locked herself out of her dorm room and hung out with Annalise and Lili while she waited for security to come unlock the door. Adriana and Annalise share a love for pop culture (mostly Taylor Swift), long phone calls, and excellent martinis.
Adam Michalowski
Groomsman
Annalise and Adam met before college started on their freshmen orientation backpacking trip. With their almost identical personalities, if they hadn't become friends they might have become enemies. Annalise and Adam spent two summers together in DC. They had a great system worked out where Adam took out the trash and Annalise did all the other chores.
Archie Rajagopalan
Bridesmaid
Archie and Adriana were randomly assigned roommates during their freshmen year. Annalise, Lili, Adriana, and Archie went on to live together for the next three years. (Whoever was in charge of room assignments in 2015 really deserves and invitation to this wedding.) Archie and Annalise both love games, cleaning, elevated surfaces, group fitness, cocktail bars, and pretending to do work in coffee shops.
Eric Smith
Groomsman
Eric, an F-16 pilot (call sign "Arrow), was the first person John and Annalise met when John moved to South Carolina. Eric is one of John's go-to people at work, and has helped John feel at home in the squadron. Annalise and Eric enjoy lively debates about politics and the law. (He always seems to forget about Annalise's law degree).
Sarah Slife
Bridesmaid
Annalise is thrilled to be gaining not one, but two sisters! Sarah is John's older sister. Growing up Sarah and John formed an alliance against the younger siblings. Or at least, John thought they had an alliance. Sarah was (and still is) really in charge. Sarah and Annalise quickly bonded over Taylor Swift, fantasy books, and telling John what to do.
Tye Hendrix
Groomsman
John met Tye (call sign "Skrap") when they both entered active duty in 2020. They went through Initial Flying Training in Colorado together, and went through Undergraduate Pilot Training at the same time. John was thrilled when he arrived in South Carolina and learned that Tye had moved there as well. John and Tye have gone through each of their flying upgrades together and have shared many of the same jobs.
Rebecca Slife
Bridesmaid
Rebecca is John's younger sister. She is an incredibly talented artist and gives amazing gifts. While Annalise is very jealous of Rebecca's creative skills, both girls excel at getting on their brothers' nerves. Like Annalise and Sarah, Rebecca is a big fan of fantasy romance novels. Ask any of them how to use "his eyes darkened" in a sentence.
Lee Graves
Groomsman
Annalise loves being Lee's younger sister. Every teacher loved him in elementary school, middle school, and high school, which means they loved Annalise too. Annalise's only complaint has to do with the song Lee made up about Annalise being "picky picky picky" as a child. Annalise did not want to be picky picky picky, so she learned to keep her preferences to herself. It made wedding planning quite difficult. Their mom wanted Annalise to add that Lee is a doctor.