Wedding Party
Laura Wyatt
Maid of Honor
Laura and Ashley met living on the same floor in college, but didn't begin hanging out until recognizing each other during a calc class and deciding to commiserate together. They truly clicked during some post-exam Steak n Shake nights. During the two years Ashley lived in the dorms, her room with Trisha became the hang out room for their friend group. Laura began trying to establish residency in the room, spending as much waking time in there as her own and marking territory with misplaced mascaras and textbooks. She graciously invited the group to her nearby family farm, starting a yearly tradition of visiting the farm and a local apple orchard. Post-college, Laura and Ashley live far away from each other but take full advantage of snapchat and weekend visits, returning right back to college days with their sleepovers. She will be the only reason Ashley makes it to the wedding without giving up on finding a wedding dress or with any lingering sanity from the process.
Brendan Andres
Best Man
Zach and Brendan pledged Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia together during our freshman year at Truman State University. We all bonded together as a pledge class but I especially enjoyed our friendship. We spent many days driving around campus in my grandpa's old Chevy Blazer with a red interior that barely shifted gears and felt like it was going to fall apart at any moment. I lived in the McPherson apartment for the first two years with Justin but it was the perfect transition when he graduated for Brendan to move in for our Senior year. After college we've went to many sports games together in St. Louis (go Royals) and more concerts than I can count. Some notable ones being box seats to Muse and Tool and us going to see Magic City Hippies and Cory Wong multiple times. We even went on two long distance road trips to attend the Austin City Limits and Shaky Knees music festivals. Brendan is a great friend who is always thinking of others and who I look up to a lot.
Trisha Grossniklaus
Bridesmaid
Trisha and Ashley were randomly assigned roommates on their women in STEM floor freshman year in college. They quickly bonded over silly things like favorite desserts and over time due to more important things like the ability to be deeply weird together. The two of them spent most of their free time together and with their small group of friends they built on their floor that first year. They survived two years in a tiny dorm room with their friendship intact, most of their possessions sun-bleached from their fifth floor window, and endless inside jokes. In fact, the two of them have been known to laugh so much together and in such a way as to frighten people away. Though they lived apart after the first two years of school, Ashley and Trisha spent plenty of time together when Ashley was still in Bloomington, and had enough impromptu sleepovers that at one point Ashley had to keep a spare bag in her car. Trisha is endlessly kind and has been a lifeline for Ashley over the years. Even though they met by random placement, they've become sisters.
Justin Borgstede
Groomsman
Justin was in the pledge class ahead of me at Phi Mu Alpha and we became friends soon after. Our time hanging out at our friend's apartment on the town square paid off with us signing a lease to be roommates at the McPherson apartment my Sophomore and Junior years. We nicknamed it "The Blue Room" after a jazz club in Kansas City and installed a blue lightbulb to tie it together. We had a great time together with many meals cooked, drinks made and shenanigans had. We even would check out projectors from the university to show movies or play Nintendo games across the big wall with our friends. More recently we've established the tradition to watch the Super Bowl together with a big feast and making fun of the after game athlete speeches. I will always appreciate Justin's big heart, kindness and friendship. I had the honor to be in Justin's wedding party a few years ago and I have looked forward to returning the favor to him for mine.
Katie Hutson
Bridesmaid
Katie was a bonus friend who came with Trisha. The two of them met in middle school and Katie also lived on the same floor as everyone else freshman year so when Ashley and Trisha became friends, Ashley was introduced to Katie as well. As a group, they all clicked, and Katie and Ashley found a great friendship separately from Trisha as well. They had deep conversations about their lives, celebrations of 2nd (and 3rd, and 4th, ...) 19th birthdays, and lunches on the floor of campus buildings in between classes. Katie and Ashley can talk about anything and everything to this day, whether it's something they're upset about or trying to give a bath to a chicken (to be fair, Katie was also upset about this one, Ashley is still amused at the mental picture). Of her bridal party, Katie lives the furthest from Ashley and the one she sees the least, but every time they chat it's like they caught up yesterday.
Carlos Sedillo
Groomsman
Carlos pledged Phi Mu Alpha after me and I had the privilege to be his "Pledge Father" (big). You really learn a lot about a person when you get to mentor and grow with them through college. We both played the same instrument in the Jazz program but he was way better than me. He had plenty to teach me as well! I spent many hours commiserating with him about trying to transcribe and play solos on bass in the Jazz Improvisation I and II courses meant for more dexterous instruments. I will never forget during one of the summers where I got very sick so he and Justin traveled across the state to come see me. He deeply cares about the people around him and I will always admire that. Carlos recently had a beautiful wedding and I am looking forward to including him as one of my groomsmen at mine.
Nash Fritsche
Bridesman
Nash and Ashley met as Jones interns and hung out with a group exploring St. Louis on weekend adventures. When returning the next summer, she did very little advance research and disliked all of the apartments she toured. Instead, she stole Nash's idea of where to live, making it very easy to resume their adventures living just a few buildings away. In addition to dinner buddies, they quickly became covid buddies, and when the world reopened, travel buddies. Nash also got conned into being her cybersecurity support and heavy-objects-carrying friend before she met Zach. If you've ever tried to make plans with Ashley and she's referenced being unavailable due to her Friday dinners, this is the friend she's eating with. They've kept their dinner tradition going for over six years at this point, and once Zach and Ashley started dating, he was allowed to join, so these days it's usually a group of three.
Nash Fritsche
Groomsman
I met Nash through Ashley's Friday dinners. We are both nerdy tech people with a sense of sarcasm so we got along quickly. We have spent many nights gossiping about work, giving Ashley a hard time and trying new food together. We have been on many adventures together including cheering him on at running races, a trip to Chicago and walking around after dinners through the streets of Old St. Charles. Since Ashley and I are both close friends with Nash, we were able to compromise on him being in the wedding party for the both of us. Everybody wins! Nash impresses me so much as a person and truly inspires Ashley and I. We are looking forward to our trip to Trout Lodge this summer about a month after the wedding hits the rear view mirror.
Zane Norris
Officiant
Zane was assigned as Ashley's mentor during her RDP program at Jones. They'd met the summer previously a few times when she was an intern, but didn't get to know each other well until he was her mentor. He was an incredibly helpful mentor - a great technical resource, very friendly, and also calming to someone (not naming names) nervous about their career. She'd often eat lunch with him and some of his friends from his RDP year. At some point, he convinced her to try a sword-fighting class, which she thoroughly enjoyed but did nearly break herself doing. Even after her year as an RDP, they remained friends and would occasionally hang out, usually doing things less likely to break Ashley than swords. - Zach and Zane first met at a burger place once Ashley and I were dating. Like Nash and I, we also got along great with bonding over tech talk. Ashley and I sometimes have a difficult time differentiating between Zanes so we always have to specify if we mean friend Zane or brother Zane (Hi Zane). Unfortunately, due to insurance reasons, Zane will not be allowed to bring swords to the wedding, though he has asked multiple times. We chose Zane as our officiant because he is a great writer and speaker (and was already ordained) and most importantly because he is a kind and open-hearted person. We couldn't imagine a better choice.