Wedding Party
Lauren Mitchell
Maid of Honor
We met in 2010 at UT and have been best friends ever since. I missed her so much when she went to UK for her M.S. degree that I decided to follow her there for mine :) also, we are both super cool people (as evidenced by our 2012 nicknames Nerual and Nosidam, inspired by stereoisomers in organic chemistry, that have never (and will never) disappear).
Alex Poydence
Best Man
We met in middle school where we found out we had the same name and have been best friends ever since.
Kayla Hutwelker
Bridesmaid
We met in grad school in 2015. Kayla and I met through the UK Chemistry volleyball league where she immediately loved me for my out-going, positive nature ;) the next two years were filled with Wine Wednesdays, Benny (featured above) kisses, and pool days. I would re-live those two years on repeat if I could take Alex with me.
AJ Bolt
Groomsman
3rd grade we were in the same class and loved the same games leading to long phone calls and a life-long friendship (featured on the left)
Rosemary Calabro
Bridesmaid
Rosie is another UK Chemistry alumna :) she and Kayla had recently become friends when I met them through volleyball. Rosie is actually the reason we became best friends. After a particularly challenging week of grad school, she asked if we would be interested in girls nights once a week (or as often we we wanted) to decompress. And so began Wine Wednesday, where we became best friends over wine, talking about life, love and chemistry <3
Dom Schrecengost
Groomsman
Introduced through the gifted program, we united the nerds and the jocks creating a huge group of friends all through middle and high school.
Nora Gustafson-Brown
Bridesmaid
I met Nora at a work party in Pittsburgh and it didn't take me long to realize I love her. We only had a year together before she and Zac moved to Texas, but we made the most of it. We became workout buddies and met up 3-4 times each week to do zumba and water aerobics. They were fun, but I'm pretty comfortable saying 90% of how we maintained the routine was because of our sauna talks after <3
Tyler Baustert
Groomsman
I have known Tyler ever since pre-school where we used to frolic in the mud, he has been a friend of mine nearly my entire life.
Zac Brown-Gustafson
Bridesman
PPG didn't only bring me Alex, it also brought me Zac and Nora! I met Zac at a volunteer event downtown Pittsburgh planting trees, only to find out he worked in the lab just above me. We pretty quickly bonded over genuinely loving science (there aren't that many of us... if you can believe it). After a few work lunches together we decided we had to hang out outside of work so I could meet his then-girlfriend Nora, and that's how I made my first adult best friends :P
Joe Mazzie
Groomsman
Joe and I have been long distance lovers since the day I met him at my cousin Sean's house, and I suspect that will never change (featured on the right)
Jason Sigman
Groomsman
A newcomer to my friend circle, I went to his birthday party before I knew his first name but we hit it off over similar interests and now we can't be torn apart.
Aaron Kostiuk
Groomsman
My brother, who since we went to college and had some time apart, I can officially call a good friend of mine.
Sydney Sloan
Angel of Honor
My sister was always my best friend. She was only 20 months older than me, so I was constantly dancing the line of cool, built-in best friend and annoying little sister. I can't describe how grateful I am for the 20 years of joy, laughter and love that I had with her. It breaks my heart that she can't be standing next to me on Alex and I's big day, but I know she will be smiling down on us filled with pride at the life we are creating. Lauren will be holding a second bouquet in honor of my sister who can't be with us <3