Emily and Dylan's Wedding
Wedding Party
Alex Shannon
Bestest Man
Alex is the best man because he might never forgive the groom if he wasn't. In all honesty he never had to worry about it . He has been the groom's best friend since second grade when they met and their dorky personalities immediately formed a fast friendship. Since then they have shared countless adventures together both imaginary and real. Alex has thoroughly vetted and approved of the bride to be and (unfortunately for the groom's ego) he and the bride have become great friends as well. He is like a brother to the entire Herrin family.
Kaylee Aalbers
Maid of Honor/Sister of the Bride
When I was two, I wanted to "take her back" to where she came from, but the majority of days to follow and certainly now, I'm so incredibly glad that is not an option. Having a sister is a built in, lifelong, best friend and maid of honor! Years of dinosaur adventures and matchbox car campgrounds grew into yolo trips across the country chasing concerts and board games. Little did I know that all along Kaylee's communication style was preparing me for marriage. How lucky I am that she's accepted Dylan as a brother (except for when it's the two of them against me). Shout out for all the design work, consulting, and advice shared for the wedding!
Dalton Herrin
Groomsman/Brother of the Groom
Dalton is actually brother to the groom. As the groom's little brother he has had the pleasure (misfortune?) of putting up with all of the groom's antics and annoying habits for 24 years. Somehow he still manages to voluntarily show up and hang out with the groom. Whether it be watching hockey games, brewing beer with their dad, or digging in the dirt at the ranch, having him around is always a welcome happenstance for the groom.
Marissa Thompson
Bridesmaid
Minion, Accomplice, Cohort (M.A.C.) was the three part nickname I gave to Marissa in college since her name is hard to shorten and those three words described our relationship. Never could there be a more compatible roommate or someone I'd rather have spent my first 4 years away from home with. If you really want to know more about how we spent our free time together in college, you'll have to find her YouTube channel. Thanks for the experience learning to live with someone I'm not related to, and for always being the most steady, consistent, up for anything friend who can make me laugh harder than ever.
Kyle Swartzlender
Groomsman
When Kyle first met the groom he categorized him as "one of the most average people". He quickly learned that that was, in fact, false. Less than one year later he and the groom were running through the rainy streets of Eugene to apply for a rental house. Thus started three raucous years of being roommates. He has been the most splendid devil on the shoulder of the groom over their friendship and has been one of the most fantastic enablee that the groom has ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Alyssa Rash
Bridesmaid
Twenty-two years of friendship and going strong, Alyssa takes the record for most number of hours spent in Nutcracker rehearsals together. Some of my very best memories are of us together - in ballet classes, rehearsals, sleep-overs, and beach adventures. Keeper of my youthful secrets, the pick-up-where-we-left-off long distance friend, we've been through countless ups and downs together. Filling the role of an extra sister, I credit her with years of "boy advice" prepping me for now. Shout out for the stellar how-to-plan-a-wedding advice in this process!
Peter Omasta
Groomsman
To start, Peter is a Phish phan. Now that that is out of the way, the bride would like it to be known that she was Peter's friend and coworker first and she would have claimed him for her side if the groom had not called dibs. Peter and the groom quickly became good friends in the stereotypical straight guy fashion: playing video games and watching sports in near silence. This bond was only strengthened by living in the same apartment building and a shared love of the ASOIAF series, the outdoors, and board games.
Cassie Wilson
Bridesmaid
Imagine a colorful, prop-filled office cubical with sounds of giggles or Disney songs and myself and Cassie sitting about 5 feet apart arguing over document formatting or making up words and dance moves to popular nursery rhymes. This is my ideal workplace setting and my actual real life. Even as my newest of close friends, I feel like I've known Cassie forever. We 'get' each other in both work and personal lives and most importantly our boba tea addiction. Our co-teaching/lesson planning chemistry is unparalleled and I couldn't ask for a better coworker to totally-know-exactly-what-we-are-doing through our second season. Shout out for playing wedding dress up with me and for supplying the champagne!
Graham Morgan
Groomsman
Graham might be one of the only people who the groom has never had to explain himself to. This is likely not due to a common understanding but because Graham is incredibly intelligent and can perceive things that many others cannot. After meeting in early high school he helped to drag the groom to many concerts and influence his taste in music. He was also one of the participants in the infamous Sasquatch Graduation trip that further solidified their bond as friends.
Alli Del Gizzi
Bridesmaid
My world traveling, tea-making, zero-waste, ukulele buddy is making an appearance from the land down under! Alli and I met through Dylan while the two of them were working as ski instructors of 3-6 year olds, at Vail Resorts and I was warmly making lattes for the adult skiers and lift operators. We met at The George, a local hangout, that was host to a Ski school and Starbucks staff birthday celebration on the same night at which Alli and I discovered that we shared a birthday day, month, and year. This was a slippery slope to years of camping, DIY, ukulele jamming, and Monday girls nights' life conversations that I credit some of my marriage preparedness to. Shout out for the inspiration and guidance to make this wedding somewhat less wasteful and earth-damaging than it could have been!
Nate Forman
Groomsman
Nate is one of the survivors of the infamous Sasquatch Graduation trip. He and the groom became friends almost instantly in 8th grade when he joined the groom's inline roller hockey team. They soon discovered that they had about a million interests in common from hockey to fly fishing to filming and surviving rabid squirrel attacks. He is also largely responsible for most of the groom's taste in music.
Ali Weiss
Bridesmaid
Thanks to birthday buddy Alli, I had the pleasure of meeting birthday buddy Ali! Yep, the three of us share our birthday (though while they got the same name in the same hospital, I was 700 miles north) and Monday girls' nights. Countless conversations and glasses of wine later, Little Ali helps make Denver feel like home. Besides team birthday parties, we bonded over shared college majors, a shared love of the West Coast beaches, and the same taste in movies and movie snacks. I credit Ali for helping to keep me excited for the wedding day and life of marriage through the stress of planning. Shout out for helping facilitate Skype convos, taking pictures, and sharing tears the day I bought my dress!