Wedding Party
Alise Mintz
Maid of Honor
Charlie and Alise met on the Wisconsin Sailing Team and were roommates in the girls' sailing house lovingly called "The Box". While Alise and Charlie did not excel in their academic endeavors, they did excel in coming up with creative ways to keep themselves and their friends entertained including adopting two cats from the shelter named Grey Goose and Morty. There are so many core memories Charlie has with Alise, many of which are not appropriate for a wedding website, but a few that really stand out include ordering 60 chicken nuggets at chickfila one Saturday morning, going to NOLA for a sailing regatta over new years, and having joint birthday parties with fun themes throughout college #justpiscesthings.
Alex Campbell
Best Man
Alex "Cinco" Campbell and Jonathan met on the Wisconsin Sailing Team. They worked together in the UW-Madison sailing shop, did their best impressions of ski bums during winter breaks from school, and sailed lots of collegiate keelboat events together. They also lived together in the infamous Chalet on Randall. Since graduating, they've had lots of (mis)adventures, both in Michigan and Colorado skiing, ice climbing, and worse. There are genuinely too many great times to pick, but one that does stick out for Jonathan is listening to Galantis while skiing across a frozen lake in the worst conditions imaginable.
Dorothy Childs
Bridesmate
Dorothy is Charlie's youngest sibling and unfortunately for all parties involved had to share a room with Charlie for many formative years in their childhood. Charlie was thrilled when Dorothy chose to go to college in nearby Chicago and they see each other whenever they get the chance. One of Charlie's favorite core memories with Dorothy was when they were going skiing with Charlie and Jonathan in Taos, New Mexico and Jonathan's truck got a flat tire but the wheel was frozen on the truck. AAA said it would take them hours to get there so rather than miss any more time skiing, Dorothy took it into their own hands to beat the wheel with a random piece of wood they found on the side of the road for hours. Spoiler alert - it didn't work.
Zach Childs
Groomsman
Charlie's younger brother Zach has become like a brother to Jonathan. They sailed together on the Wisconsin Sailing Team, worked together in the UW Madison sailing shop, and lived together in the Chalet. Jonathan was thrilled when Zach switched from snowboarding to skiing, and Jonathan has loved getting to shred with Zach on the ski trips they've gone on over the years. Jonathan's favorite memory with Zach was hosting the best tailgate ever at the Chalet, live band included.
Anna Thickens
Bridesmaid
Anna is Jonathan's middle sister and Charlie's worst nightmare (in Anna's own words). Charlie and Anna lived together in "The Box" and is the sole person listed in Charlie's will to adopt Tito the dog and Grey Goose the cat in the event Charlie mysteriously disappears. Charlie and Anna sailed together, skied together, and worked in their undergraduate research lab together (their boss didn't realize until this year that Charlie was dating Anna's older brother)! A core memory of Anna was teaching her how to cook chicken (and not let it go bad first) during her sophomore year... a lesson that took a few spoiled chicken breasts to take hold but still memorable!
Hayden Frentzel
Groomsman
Jonathan and Hayden met on the Wisconsin Sailing Team. When not on the water, they spent lots of time together in their CS classes, as well as in the Chalet, where they fostered a fierce Guitar Hero rivalry. Without Hayden, Jonathan very likely would not have learned how to properly crew a 420, gotten through his Algorithms or Operating systems classes, or survived a couple of long weeks in the Chalet without internet. Good times with Hayden are never in short supply (including the time they hot-wired a traffic light), but Jonathan's favorite memories with Hayden are hanging out on the Chalet roof.
Kate Thickens
Bridesmaid
Kate is Jonathan's youngest sister and Charlie's favorite Thickens (don't tell Anna). While Charlie did not overlap with Kate at UW Madison, she is carrying on the tradition and is currently a resident of "The Box". There are so many core memories with Kate, many around sailing, but one of Charlie's favorites was on the 2022 Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac when a huge storm hit Kate and Charlie's boat. Charlie was sitting on the side of the boat, head down, sopping wet, having a bad time a few hours into the storm and looks up for two seconds to see Kate smiling, laughing, looking around, enjoying the storm, and yelling "AREN"T YOU HAVING SO MUCH FUN RIGHT NOW?!?!".
Ben Witman
Groomsman
Ben Witman was the first Wisconsin Sailing Team member Jonathan met, and his positive introduction to the team went a long way toward where Jonathan is as a sailor today. Ben was also a key mentor for Jonathan's post-college sailing career, pushing him into the offshore sailing world. Ben and Jonathan also worked together in the UW Madison sailing shop, where as usual, Jonathan learned just about everything he knows about boat work from Ben. Jonathan's favorite memory with Ben, pictured above, was a day of ice sailing on Superior Bay in Duluth.
Kate Britt
Bridesmaid
Kate Britt (aka KB) is also a beloved roommate of Charlie's in "The Box" and actively participated in all shenanigans relating to both hard and soft water sports that Jonathan and Charlie dragged her into. From driving ten hours round trip to pick Charlie up at a random offshore race at 7am to being the vocalist in our neighborhood guitar hero band at the Chalet, there are so many good times with KB it's almost overwhelming. There is one particular core memory that stands out to Charlie, for better or worse. Charlie and KB were skiing in Big Sky on a pretty difficult run, both crying at the top. They decided they needed to be brave for their cats, and KB yelled "Its Meow Meow Time!" before ripping down the chute like the absolute pro skier she is.
Blake Goldschmit
Groomsman
Blake and Jonathan first met in Duluth in their Kindergarten class. They also went to middle and high school together at Marshall. From driving school teachers insane to skiing in Big Sky to boating adventures on Lake Superior or Freedenberg to causing all types of motorized chaos, Blake has proved consistently over the years it's impossible to have a bad time when he's around. Jonathan's favorite memory with Blake was a particularly sketchy boat mooring adventure on Lake Superior.
Carolyn Keck
Bridesmaid
Carolyn and Charlie also met on the sailing team and quickly realized they had a lot of similar interests: big boats, big mountains, and big apres sessions. From traveling for keelboat regattas, going to the Patagonia outlet store every ski trip to Salt Lake City or crying in the library together over organic chemistry or physics, Charlie and Carolyn have always found something exciting to do in every season. A core memory Charlie has with Carolyn was from last year's ski season when Carolyn joined Charlie and Jonathan to attempt a backcountry ski line off Mt. Superior, Utah. After a very challenging day of almost dying, Charlie and Carolyn became local celebrities by drinking beers on the side of the road in the snow bank to celebrate life and their successful day of skiing.
Sean Spencer
Groomsman
Jonathan and Sean met in middle school in Duluth and quickly became virtually inseparable. Since then, Sean has consistently been there for Jonathan as one of the most supportive, consistent, and present friends through all the highs and lows. Sean is always up for anything, and over the years it's meant Jonathan and him have been on some wild rides together. On the tamer side, Jonathan's favorite memory with Sean was baking a fresh apple pie one afternoon.
Hannah Dear
Bridesmaid
Hannah and Charlie met on a graduate school interview weekend and bonded over their love for college football. Hannah surprisingly didn't think Charlie was cool because she was wearing Sperry topsiders to the interview but has since come around and has been an absolute rock for Charlie in grad school. Hannah must be extremely excited to come back to Madison because Charlie's core memory is from the first (and only) time Hannah has been to Wisco. To put it nicely, Charlie basically broke her ankle and Hannah couldn't hang at a Badger gameday and had to tap out at 8 pm.
Tye Rubin
Groomsman
Tye and Jonathan met when Tye joined the UW Madison sailing team. From there, they worked together in the shop and sailed together both in collegiate keelboat regattas and in the summer keelboat series on Lake Mendota, first on "Tye and the Shoelaces" and then on "Team Chessie." Outside of sailing, they've had tons of great times together skiing all over the country, especially at Mt. Bohemia. Jonathan's favorite memory with Tye was driving back to Madison from a college sailing regatta in New York on the graveyard shift.
Emily Holloway
Bridesmaid
Dr. Emily Holloway Ph.D. had the misfortune of being assigned to teach Charlie everything she knows in her first year of grad school. Emily turned out to be not only an amazing mentor and really good at science stuff but also an amazing friend who is willing to try just about anything Charlie and Jonathan want to do! A core memory Charlie has with Emily was taking her cross-country skiing for the first time and watching Emily crash in some of the most creative and spectacular ways. Not to mention we may or may not have been accomplices in breaking our dear friend, Paul Hein's, shoulder that trip....
Matt Morehouse
Groomsman
Matt is one of Jonathan's earliest childhood friends. The Thickens and Morehouse families had cabins on Lake Superior a stone's throw from each other, and they spent countless days growing up getting into all sorts of trouble together at the cabin. Matt and Jonathan also rowed together at the Duluth Rowing Club and ski raced and played the trumpet together in High School at Marshall. The long list of great times with Matt makes picking just one almost impossible, but building the biggest bonfire ever is a great one.
Lukas Duddleston
Officiant
Charlie and Jonathan met Commodore Lukas Duddleston through the sailing club at UW Madison while all working on the Board of Captains together. As it turned out - Lukas lived a block away from both of them and so he quickly got roped into their shenanigans around the neighborhood, on the lake, and at the local ski hill. One of Charlie's core memories with Lukas involved him confidently stepping up to bat in a game of Kegball and proceeding to kick a little too hard and ending up flat on his back in the mud behind home plate. Some of Jonathan's favorite memories with Lukas come from racing j/24's together as a part of Team Chessie on Lake Mendota.