Kaelie & Derek
Wedding Party
Vanessa Placeres
Maid of Honor
Vanessa and Kaelie met while teaching summer camps for USA. They became fast friends after sharing a box of donuts while judging a cheerleading competition in the Bay Area. After that, the rest was history. They endured a very long long-distance best friend-ship when Vanessa moved to Atlanta. Vanessa was there when Kaelie and Derek met, and for many other memorable moments including their engagement and when they got their puppy, Schooner! They love Auntie Vanessa!
Tessa Rooke
Bridesmaid
Tessa and Kaelie have been best friends from high school. There are too many memories to count, but one of Kaelie's favorites would be when Tessa would ditch soccer practice to go over to Kaelie's house to hang out. Or in college when Tessa would come up to San Francisco to visit. So many shenanigans. Lastly, Kaelie loved Tessa's daddio very much. Both of their dad's will join us on their special day in spirit.
Sonia Ramirez
Bridesmaid
Kaelie and Sonia met while working for USA in the summer of 2008. Kaelie picked Sonia up in LA and they drove all the way to Santa Cruz together, only almost getting in ONE accident along they way. They became immediate friends, laughing at every single thing. Sonia would visit Kaelie when she lived in San Francisco over the years, and then, by some sort of magic, they became roommates. They lived in San Francisco together for years, and are still the best of friends.
Lindsay Brown
Bridesmaid
Kaelie has known Lindsay since the moment she was born. They grew up calling each other cousins, although they weren't related at all. It was just easier than to explain their real connection - their mama's have been best friends since their freshman year in High School. Lindsay was Kaelie's first experience of what a "sister" felt like, and it still feels that way today!
Emilee Brown
Bridesmaid
Just like the other Brown sister, Kaelie has known Emilee since she was born. Emilee is Kaelie's Godsister and one of her most favorite people ever. Emilee and Kaelie can laugh and laugh for no reason for hours. If one of them starts, the other can't stop. One of Kaelie's favorite memories is sitting in the trunk with Emilee in Pullman, Washington just laughing about nothing. And when she taught Kaelie how to play the piano when they were young gals.
Cecelia Herrera
Bridesmaid
Cecelia and Kaelie met while teaching for USA. They became friends immediately, but their friendship really grew when they ended up living down the street from each other in San Jose. They loved to hang out all day with their boys, but loved their girl's nights out the most!
Sean Ellis
Best Man
In Freshman homeroom, Sean and Derek became fast friends when Sean realized he needed a tall friend to stand next to and make himself look bigger to the many bullies he consistently pissed off. Derek was happy to meet a classmate that could teach him how to properly wear Structure sweater vests and talk to girls. The relationship blossomed through the trials and tribulations of young adulthood, including poor internet connections disrupting World of Warcraft raid parties, Middle East deployments, and California mountain hippy communes. Sean is super thankful Derek found Kaelie and finally decided to grow up.
Matt Joiner
Groomsman
Matt and Derek met in Philly, along with Fred, at their first job out of college. Both young men were looking for apartments in Manayunk and were too poor to live alone, so decided to become roommates...then continued to live together for seven years, which in Pennsylvania legally qualified their relationship as a common-law marriage. Hopefully, this legal technicality does not create any complications for Kaelie and Derek in the future. Fortunately, Don Much is a lawyer.
Mo Hashem
Groomsman
Mo and Derek met at Marsteller Middle School where the relationship was initially rivalrous until Mo discovered he could copy off Derek's science homework and quizzes. Soon after, Derek was frequenting afterschool sewer race parties at the Hashem residence. In college, they took turns visiting one another for Virginia Tech / West Virigina football games, where inevitably someone would do something we have since chosen to forget about. As professionals, they are now colleagues in the same industry, but Mo is way more successful.
James Hovenesian
Groomsman
J. Hova and Derek were teammates in elementary school on the notorious VSA Heat travel soccer club, out of Haymarket, Va. They were both pretty much taller than everyone else and also skinnier. Some thought they were brothers, but Derek was a way bigger dork (mcgork). Fast forward to college, where they lived as roommates and did pretty much everything together, including not go to class. This tempered a lifelong relationship of not doing what they are supposed to while hanging out together.
Don Much
Groomsman
Don and Derek met at the infamous Jersey Shore late one special evening when Derek's shorehouse roommate called Don an elitist asshole for driving a Toyota. This lead to an immediate bond, as Derek also drove a Toyota and hated his shorehouse roommate. Many years later, Don and Derek still enjoy meeting up for a quality HANG whenever they can get away from their personal responsibilities.
Fred Babarsky
Groomsman
Fred and Derek met in Philly, along with Matt, at their first job out of college. Fred would spend most weekends driving back home to Scranton until he realized he could stay local and act like a degenerate with Derek and Matt. Soon after, Derek and Fred were shorehouse roommates and taking spontaneous trips to Europe together with little to no planning. Nowadays you can find them once a year on a "Gnardawgs Only" winter mountain trip defying death on ski runs that far exceed their personal skill level.
Logan Sweet
Groomsman
Logan is Kaelie's brother and first best friend. Although there were many years in between where they were mortal enemies, they are still the best of buds. One of Kaelie's favorite times with Logan was when he was a Freshman in high school and she was Senior. Logan has supported Kaelie through all of her work accomplishments, and has even joined her for a few NFL events. During Derek's first trip out to California to visit Kaelie, they went to watch Logan play at UCLA.
Kyle Sweet
Groomsman
Kyle is Kaelie's youngest brother. Kyle is so wise, beyond his years, and reminds Kaelie a lot of her dad. Kaelie loved Kyle so much growing up, she felt like he was her little baby! One of Kaelie and Derek's favorite times ever was going to Pullman or Seattle to watch Kyle play football at WSU.