Wedding Party
Alex Joffe
Groomsman
Alex is the definition of a “go with the flow” kind of guy. He starts most mornings at the gym, but his real fuel comes from driving his bright Red RS3 and racing any poor sucker who dares roll up next to him (even if he knows he will lose). We met at a car meet in 2017 and instantly bonded over our VW Golf R’s at the time — and the never-ending cycle of wrenching on them. Since then, we’ve spent countless hours helping (and occasionally breaking) each other’s cars. Just a heads-up: leave your vehicle unattended around Alex, and you might come back to a few unplugged sensors and a casual, “It’ll be fine.”
Spencer Petry
Groomsman
Spencer and I crossed paths sometime in 2017, back when he was daily driving a car more prepared for the Nürburgring than the grocery store. He’s the reason I started tracking my car — and the only person I know who adds sound deadening in the name of comfort while also shaving seconds off his lap times. A true perfectionist, Spencer has always balanced performance with practicality in the most Spencer way possible. He now lives in Costa Rica, where he fosters street dogs and runs a thriving 4x4 rental business. If something is broken, he knows how to get it done – and for cheaper!
Scott Wiegand
Groomsman
Scott is the “dad” of the group — not just because he was married and the oldest, but because he actually knew how to fix things (or at least seemed like he did). He was the first person to show me how to change brake pads and rotors, which kicked off my spiral into the world of DIY car work. That one lesson led to years of busted knuckles, late-night garage sessions, and a hobby that’s somehow both rewarding and wildly expensive — even though working on your own car should be cheaper. (Spoiler: it’s not.)
Jamie Orr
Groomsman
When Jamie’s not buying yet another Volkswagen (he’s well past 30 of them), he’s running an international car magazine, organizing one of the largest VW/Audi shows in the country, or driving something wildly impractical through a foreign country. Despite all that, he’s one of the most down-to-earth people you’ll meet — and a walking encyclopedia of obscure VW facts. We first met during a paid video shoot for a mutual friend. Jamie started as a client, but after a few projects, a genuine friendship followed. Then one day, he casually invited me on a road trip to Ukraine to deliver humanitarian supplies… and the rest is history.
Nicole Duffy
Witness
Ryan's twin sister — or as she likes to say, “wombmate” — has always felt more like an older sister to me. She never lets me forget she was born two minutes earlier, and honestly, she’s carried that big sister energy ever since. Nicole was the one who got the better grades, the one everyone expected the most from — and she always delivered. But even when I wasn’t the academic standout, she never stopped showing up for me. To this day, she talks about my life wins and milestones to her friends like a proud parent. She’s always had my back, and I wouldn’t be the person I am without her.
Liz Colding
Friend of Honor
Ms. Harris’s 6th grade advisory (homeroom) always gave the day an interesting start, but no day - except the days when she brought her malamutes in to visit - was more exciting than Friday (game day). The world may never know how Kara and Liz, two complete strangers, ended up playing Uno together on that first Friday, but one thing that IS known is that even though Uno is largely a game of chance, Liz managed to beat Kara’s butt at it every. single. Friday. Despite this weekly murder of Kara’s pride, they became best friends, and have since been there for each other through all of life's struggles: surviving first period 8th grade honors math, finding jeans that fit, boys being jerks (understatement), spending 3+ hours straightening and then curling Kara’s hair before 10th grade homecoming, Liz being at NYU during hurricane Sandy…etc. And sometimes, good things happen too, like cats and spontaneous tattoos (and tattoos and spontaneous cats).
Marisa Sellars
Friend of Honor
Kara and Marisa randomly ended up next to each other in 7th grade band and suddenly found themselves best friends that did everything together - band, running club, more band, cross country, solo & ensemble (yes, also band), summer synchronized swimming, summer band camp, pit orchestra, full orchestra, more band…there were in fact very few extracurriculars they didn’t do together (Marisa even briefly tried robotics). When you spend that much time together, you either end up hating each other, or you become friends for life…you can guess what the result was here. A friendship this effortless (in a good way) is something to be treasured, and Kara wouldn't trade it for the world. Liz and Marisa had already been good friends since elementary school, so after Kara became friends with both of them (entirely separately, believe it or not), the natural next step was to immediately become an unstoppable trio.
Kirsten Jahn Richardson
Bridesmaid
As the story goes, Kara lasted roughly five months in Pennsylvania before she declared she was bored and started looking for a robotics team to mentor. It just so happens that Kirsten is the head coach of a team that worked exactly with Kara’s schedule. Their friendship happened so fast, that barely than a month after meeting for the first time, Kirsten was inviting her to her family’s thanksgiving, which became an annual tradition until 2020. As Kara's best friend outside of Michigan, Kirsten has been Kara's go-to, rock, and enabler for everything the past 10 years (like cat-sitting, car problems, margaritas, and everything in between), and while they do spend most of their time together doing robotics (because each of them, independently, spend most of their time on robotics), they have been known to take on other adventures together, like a week-long camping road trip in a Scion FR-S, and dressing up as each other for halloween. Kirsten is also the mutual friend that introduced Kara and Ryan in 2017, and was part of the Ohiopyle camping trip that ultimately is what resulted in them getting together. Thank you, Kirsten!
Sean Stevens
Bridesman
You don’t need a license to drive a sandwich, but you do need one to drive a car, and that is what truly set this friendship off: rides home from robotics, because for several years, Sean, freshly graduated from Drexel, did not have his driver’s license (why bother when you live in the city), and asked one night if he could get a ride home from robotics. That kicked off countless nights of 15 minute conversations that ran the gamut of “how do we fix this robot problem” to “did you listen to the new Taylor Swift album yet”. Sean did eventually get his license (and a car), so the car talk stopped, but the talk itself continued, and now it’s hard to remember the first few years of Kara’s time on the team when they just kind of co-existed. Now, you’ll find them pretty much always at robotics, and getting to spend pretty much every evening swapping meme references with one of your best friends is truly a blessing. Also, apparently Sean and Kara are supposed to throw punches over something, but neither of them (nor anyone else) can remember why.
Neil Momsen
Bridesman
The cream of the Keweenaw, the pride of Pastyland, proof of the second law of thermodynamics, and the second-best feeling in the world … the one, the only, Huskies Pep Band. That is how Neil and Kara met. The specifics are unknown, but contributing factors include: playing bass drum, similar flavors of sarcasm, a shared love of The Newsroom, Twitter, and volunteering for every band event ever. Post-undergrad, they shipped themselves off to opposite ends of the country (rude), but maintained their friendship as all long-distance friends do…through a constant stream of memes and the occasional video chat. Neil got his doctorate (!!!) and moved to the east coast, and they now actually get to see each other (and their pets) in person sometimes! Despite the distance (or honestly, maybe because of it), they are able to have such seamless conversations about literally just the day-to-day things, like work and buying houses and making doctors appointments, and it just never gets boring. Everyone needs a friend like this, and Kara is so happy she has a Neil in her life.