Cassandra & John
Wedding Party
Cassandra Dunn
Bride
Cassandra, who usually goes by Cassie or Cass, turns 25 on September 24th, and then promptly marries the man of her dreams on the 28th. She has spent her entire life in love with dance, from the ages 4-18 she was in and out classes and at one point was dancing 8 hours a week. Since high school graduation she hasn't been in classes but it still consumes many of her thoughts and she enjoys watching videos and performances of dancers. At the end of her junior year of high school she was in a car accident that resulted in permanent brain damage and rather than going to college, she has spent the last 7 years recovering, and rediscovering who she is. (figuring out how to describe myself in this bio has been a challenge for this reason.) During the pandemic she discovered a hunger for reading that could not be satiated. Her most favorite genres are romance, coming of age, and fantasy.
John Roper
Groom
John is a graduate student at Lehigh University, as a research assistant in Catastrophe Modeling within the insurance and reinsurance industry. In helping vulnerable communities become more resilient. He has many varied interests including fine art, improv, anime, science, and video games. He is incredibly passionate and equally dedicated to fighting climate change, access to sustainable choices, advocating for socially vulnerable populations, volunteer work, and community engagement just to name a few. He is funny, kind, compassionate, hardworking, wise, and generous. He cares very deeply, not only for those closest to hime, but all living things.
Shane Troxell
Man of Honor
Shane and Cassie have been best friends since meeting at CPFA when they were 12 and 13 respectively. They were fast friends when they realized that Cassie had gone to school 4 years prior with Shane’s older brother Wilder. They have been in many shows, classes, and camping trips together, and throughout school spent hours on the phone in the middle of the night as they both suffered from insomnia. Shane has an acting degree from Penn State, and just had a self produced show in the Philly Fringe Festival! Shane has repeatedly shown up for every incredibly difficult and most wonderful events in Cassie’s life.
Joseph Delgrippo
Best Man
Joe is John’s oldest and one of his best friends. From elementary school, to playing Call of Duty through middle school, and every moment of high school and college Joe has been a consistent, honest, loyal, and reliable friend to John. Joe instantly accepted Cassie and even went on roadtrip to visit John at Furman with her for a full week. When they were in high school John asked him to be his best man and felt the same way when the time actually came. Joe loves film and a good beer, and has a newsletter reviewing cool bars and taprooms in Philly, he is actively going to Temple University for marketing.
Kiara Prescott
Bridesmaid
Kiara is a dance teacher with a dance degree from Point Park University. Cassie and Kiara met when they were 10, at CPFA in the bathroom during lunch while getting changed out of their dance clothes and back into their regular clothes. When they both realized that they didn’t like the jeans their moms had dressed them in that morning but they really liked each others. So they did what any sane people would do, and switched pants. Their mothers were furious but they were bonded for life. Through many hours of long distance video calling, as Kiara lived in Philly and Cassie an a little over an hour away in Landenberg, the two of them kept each other company while they did their schoolwork. They watched each other grow up through a screen, but made it in person for the milestones. Like when Kiara turned 16 and while she was back in public school every day of the week, Cassie still went to cyber school and stayed at her house and helped her mom plan, set up, and execute her sweet sixteen over the course of a week. Or when Cassie broke up with a boyfriend and listened to James Bay’s “Let it go” on repeat while on the phone with Kiara. They were sisters the minute they traded those pants.
Joshua Swope
Groomsman
Josh and John met on accepted students day at Furman University, and instantly made John commit to Furman. They began as best friends, became suite mates and eventually roommates throughout their time at Furman. They were in the improv troupe together, on Student Government together, and many other impressive and impactful projects together. Josh is incredibly personable, and kind and warm and makes whoever is speaking to him know that they have his entire attention. Since Cassie and John were in a long distance relationship, 98% of the time, Cassie was on facetime in their apartment at night, and Josh and Srikar both treated her as another roommate and never hesitated to check in with her as one of their group. Josh loves people and connecting with others and making them feel special, and he’s good at it. He's currently working AstraZeneca, selling a revolutionary asthma inhaler.
Montana McGuire
Bridesmaid
Montana and Cassie met at CPFA, but despite her dating (and then marrying) Cassie’s nephew Aiden, they weren’t friends until 4 years after Cassie graduated high school. When they connected on Cassie’s 23rd birthday when she invited Aiden and Montana to go to the PA Renaissance Faire with her and John. They were instantly inseparable. So inseparable that the four of them lived together within the year, where they moved to Bethlehem together after John accepted his research assistantship for Lehigh. Cassie and Montana share all of the same interests, both in childhood and adulthood. Including makeup (specifically colourpop), twilight, strawberry shortcake, photography, and also both work as hostesses in the same restaurant together. Where they work with their former Musical Theatre teacher, Jarad, as a manager. She is currently attending Penn State for Graphic Design. Montana is funny, incredibly caring, hard working, intelligent, and talented friend that has been there through Cassie’s entire transition to independence. Montana is many different things, a friend from high school, a coworker, a roommate, legally my niece, and also a sister.
Srikar Alapati
Groomsman
Srikar and John were freshman roommates and continued to room together throughout all four years. They were fast best friends when Srikar went home for the weekend and returned to a gigantic pickle jar named Morgan tucked into his bed. Srikar is a current medical student at Columbia College in South Carolina, and is a hard working, compassionate, intelligent, friend, who showed up to every improv show, and would drive John to the train station at 2am. He included Cassie in everything and goes out of his way to check in on his friends.
Grace Slear
Bridesmaid
Grace and Cassie met in 8th grade and CPFA but weren’t friends until sophomore year when they realized that neither of them hated the other like they had thought. Grace is an actor who just finished an off-broadway run of Queen of Versailles, and is in a musical duo called Grace + Sage. They grew up doing shows and musical theatre classes together. They also were in the Thespian Society together where they coordinated the costume and makeup committee and during multiple shows Cassie helped Grace do her quick changes. Grace and Cassie have always had a shared love of all things theatre, fairies, magic, stars, and what makes being alive magical. Grace is warm and inviting, and kind, and a sister for life.
Thomas Whittemore
Groomsman
Tom is one of the original group of friends John made at Furman. Tom is a Chemistry Ph. D student at UNC and is always the life of the party. John and Tom have always bonded over their silly sense of humors but also Tom always shows up. He’s a reliable real friend who has been there to support both John and Cassie throughout their entire friendship. Cassie and Tom are both known to start random dance parties together and this wedding will be no different!
Kiera Sankey
Bridesmaid
Kiera is a wonderful jazz vocalist, who is Cassie oldest and first friend. They met on the bus on the first day of first grade, and instantly hit it off. Spending hours of Cassie forcing her to listen to "True Friend" by Hannah Montana, she's the epitome of a true friend. Kiera’s house was where Cassie had her first successful sleepover (she would have her parents pick her up in the middle of the night usually), straightened her hair for the first time, made music videos together, and were girls together. Both Kiera and her Mom, Vicki, have been a constant people for Cassie through her entire life, through switching schools multiple times, losing her father, break ups, graduations, and so much more.
Aiden McGuire
Groomsman
Aiden is a current undergraduate student at Penn State World Campus, where he is majoring in Information Science and Technology with a minor in Finance. He has a position as an At Home Technical Support Advisor for Apple and also is an Apprentice Tailor with Edwing Joseph & Sons Custom Suits and Formal Wear. Cassie and Aiden are 26 months apart and were raised more like siblings than aunt and nephew. Despite a five-year hiatus, they share many of the same quirks and seem to speak a language only they understand. More often than not, since they both attended cyber school, they would watch movies together in the back of Sarah’s car as children, usually arguing between The Cat in the Hat and The Corpse Bride. When Aiden and John spent the day at the Renaissance Faire together for Cassie’s 23rd birthday, they bonded over strange meat jerky and instantly were attached at the hip. Aiden and John are silly in the same ways and relate to each other in how their brains work and how they both feel about school. Living together for a year as they all figure out how to be adults, they have learned to lean on each other in unexpected ways. When John was deciding who to ask to be a groomsman, the choice was obvious.
Domino Gilley
Flower Child
Domino and Cassie met in middle school at CPFA and always enjoyed each other's company. They sought each other out at every school dance for at least one song because they were always on the same wavelength. Shane and Domino have always been best friends and the three of them were in Much Ado About Nothing together when they were 12 & 13. Though it wasn't until October 2020, when Shane and Lauren planned a week long camping roadtrip up to Maine and back, that they became fast and close friends. Both Cassie and Domino and little to no camping experience and decided to say yes, because when was an opportunity like this again? To say the trip was life changing would be an understatement. They drove to the top of a mountain, despite both of Cassie's and Dom's fear of heights. (Lauren and Shane were quite entertained). They couldn't find a campsite on one of their nights so they shared a hotel room and took their only showers that week (luckily). The four of them bonded on that trip in a profound way, and getting married would feel incomplete without them. Dom is a Rapper and incredible performer, and a wonderful friend.
TJ Roberts
Tattoo Ring Artist
TJ is both a server and tattoo artist based in Philadelphia. He and Cassie met at CPFA back in 2013 at her second audition into the school, and were very good friends through many shows, friend groups, parties, and relationships. When Cassie was about to graduate, she and Grace and TJ and a few other friends gave themselves stick and poke tattoos, and Cassie gave TJ his first tattoo, which she can’t believe snowballed into a true hidden talent and passion for the art form. TJ has always been a trustworthy and constant friend throughout her life and he and John instantly hit it off. When Cassie and John were deciding what to do about wedding bands given that they both are prone to finger dislocations, and John can’t consistently wear rings, they instantly thought of a permanent solution that only their dear friend would be able to deliver.
Lauren McKee
Officiant
Cassie and John both met Lauren through Shane. Shane first told Cassie about her by sending her a video of the two of them frolicking in leaf piles at Penn State, and then brought her home for New Year’s eve 2019, and introduced them. The four of them instantly hit it off and have become very close over the years. However, they have only all been together in person 5 times before and this wedding makes 6. Lauren works at the Franklin Institute and has an acting degree from Penn State. She has a warmth and joy for life that is infectious and when Cassie and John were trying to decide who they wanted to marry them, they instantly and unanimously thought Lauren.