Sarah & Kevin
Wedding Party
Jake Doyle
Best Man
My brother who stole my room after I moved out. Somehow is like 6 inches taller than me. We like to watch the Simpsons and disagree about baseball stuff. I love him but he's not allowed to give a speech (and also he probably doesn't want to give one!)
Melissa Cleaver
Maid of Honor
Melissa Cleaver came into my life when I was a little over 2 years old and given that she's my sister, she's been in my life ever since! As my only sibling - as much as I used to love to deny this - she became my instant best friend and for good portions of our lives we were inseparable. She has always expressed a great desire to help others. She's traveled across the world to try to put a smile on the faces of those who are less fortunate and has dedicated her life to studying medicine to help save lives. I'm so happy that when I was 8 and she was 6 that the gum I placed on her eyelids when she was napping didn't actually blind her forever like I thought at the time and she will be by my side at my wedding!
Hasan Abad
Groomsman
I maintain we were already kinda friends before this, but he thinks our friendship started when I asked him if he watched Ned's Declassified School Survial guide at lunch one day junior year of high school. So maybe we weren't friends before that? Anyway, we lived together for four years of college and created several classic comedy bits together, such as Klowning, reminiscing about Duffman, buying ducks without telling our other roommates and talking among ourselves for long periods of time when common courtesy dictates we should also be talking to the other people at the place we are at.
Paige Sliney
Bridesmaid
I first met Paige right before we started junior high at a summer orchestra program. I still remember our first conversation. I was gushing about my love for New Found Glory and although a lot of my friends had never heard of them, Paige actually had. It was shortly after bonding over our mutual love of the growing pop punk scene that we then found out we both played the viola and that's when our friendship was born. We've annoyed every conductor we've had together, started businesses, traveled across the country following the Jonas Brothers, and for some reason have always seemed to live similar lives. This is old but I think still sums up our friendship perfectly (sorry Paige!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njsrGuljrKo
Ryan Otto
Groomsman
The first time we met we were abandoned at a vegan restaurant in Wisconsin as a prank by our other friends. We were both aware that the prank was going to happen to us, yet Otto was the only one that realized it was literally happening to us. But shortly thereafter we became friends that enjoy discussing manly stuff such as sports, the Mighty Ducks movies and One Tree Hill.
Brandon Massey
Bridesman
Anyone who's ever met Brandon will be able to tell you that he's one of the most welcoming, friendly, and compassionate souls out there. In 2011 I moved to Chicago and started working for the Ian Schrager Company and that's when I met Brandon. I moved to the city knowing just a handful of people but Brandon quickly welcomed me as a friend. We eventually became roommates and turned Tuesday nights from being boring weeknights to our most adventurous nights of the week. Never forget the Jolly Green Giant.
Tom Sanocki
Groomsman
I have nothing nice to say about Tom until he agrees my bachelor party can be in his parents' basement. Instead I will use this space to link to his awful twitter where he recently used #cinnamon in a tweet about soda -- @CommodoreTom
Jill Doyle
Bridesmaid
Jill is Kevin's sister so he's writing this. She knows more about sports than literally everyone I know except myself and every now and then she'll pull a fast one and have a better opinion than me. I don't know why she let me sit in her room and play video games and talk about dumb stuff as often as she did but probably because she's a very nice person! Also I use her jokes and she introduced me to Hollywood Handbook so basically my entire sense of humor is basically just hers. Love ya sis!
Gregg Doyle
Father of the Groom
I didn't know being my parent was a wedding party position. Anyway, he's a very good dad. Taught me everything I knew about sports as a kid, but nowadays when I try to return the favor by explaining to him that Kyle Schwarber is a good hitter, he doesn't seem to appreciate it. Love him anyway.
John Cleaver
Father of the Bride
John Cleaver is my pep pep and the indestructible force that has kept our family going. For the last 32 years that I've known my pep pep, he has dedicated his life to provide for the Cleaver clan (including this whole wedding) and I will forever be grateful to have such a great pep pep and although I do not get the chance to see him as often as I would like, I cherish each of our conversations, even when they are just taking place to complain about Stan Bowman. Love you dad!
Lori Doyle
Mother of the Groom
Very good mom! Falls asleep too early. Has been extremely helpful with this wedding stuff. Also helpful teaching me (and presumably hundreds of other kids) how to read. One fond memory I have is going to a high school mother-son dance and sitting at our table laughing at the dorks dancing with their moms. Here's hoping she keeps that attitude at the wedding when it's "time" for the mother-son dance. Love her too!
Vicky Cleaver
Mother of the Bride
My mom is my rock. During my rebellious, teenage years, I didn't take advantage of her wisdom enough and naturally was a handful to deal with but she still was there for me when I needed her most and I will never forget that. Like my pep pep, I wish I could see her more often however I make sure we get a chance to talk almost everyday. Thank you for being a best friend and a great mom!
James Triezenberg
Usher
Choosing a partner to do group assignments with during Western Civ gave me anxiety, so I often just sidled up to Triezenberg and Dave Flisk (I wonder what that guy's up to?!). A little while after that we were friends. Spent a lot of college trying to get him to drink with us; the infrequent successful attempts yielded extremely mixed results.
Brian Cunningham
Usher
On the first day of high school his introduction to me was "Hi I'm Brian and I'm having the worst day of my life." It was a much-needed lesson that as much anxiety as I was feeling at the time, there was at least one person that was going to have a harder time making friends than me. BUT, Brian is the most empathetic, kind-hearted person I will ever meet and I think he's probably stopped using that line on complete strangers for the most part.
Walden Avery
Officiant
We both met Walden when he started working at Vivid Seats. Because of us, Walden is also known as Wally and Walter, and when he falls asleep, he'll respond to "Walker." Speaking of which, Walden is great at falling asleep. One time while on the phone with a customer when Kevin was supervising (he made sure to take a pic before waking him up). One time while on the red line, when we happened to get on the same car as him (who knows how many times the train had passed his stop?). We love hanging out with Walden whether it's at Kelsey's or a questionable establishment in New Orleans. There's no one we'd rather have marrying us.