Ally & Eddie

Wedding Party

Meet our family and friends who are walking down the aisle with us!

Meg Gotsell

Maid of Honor

"Meg is Ally's younger sister!" is all Ally had written until Meg saw Victor's bio and asked, "Eddie wrote a novel about his best man, and that is all you have to say about me?" So to add, Meg is Ally's sister, best friend and former long-term roommate beginning in 1993. She's always up for an adventure, whether that be a Lizzo concert or a drive-thru trip for chicken nuggets, and has been so incredibly supportive of Ally's relationship with Eddie since she first met him over drinks and apps at Donahue's bar in Watertown.

Victor Krylov

Best Man

Victor has been Eddie's best friend since high school. While they met playing Yu-Gi-Oh in the cafeteria, their friendship and mutual obsessions with tennis, cinema, and travel have taken them all over the United States and Canada several times. Despite a constant rumor, they have never been engaged to each other but "are not insulted by suggestion".

Meg Alber

Bridesmaid

Ally met Meg at Stonehill College, where they lived in the same hallway their freshman year. However, their friendship really solidified when they began taking weekly trips to Wet Seal and Forever 21 at the South Shore Plaza. Their joint love of shopping continues 15 years later, but they've swapped "going out tops" for "comfortable athleisure."

Richie Gedick

Groomsman

Richie and Eddie met during lunch period in the seventh grade and have remained close friends ever since. They were intermural soccer teammates in college but a tradition the two of them have has been travelling to one minor league baseball game each Summer. Richie and Eddie share mutual interests in graphic novels, cheaply made/poorly conceived horror movies, and snazzy suits. A regular along with his wife, Aimee at the annual Hand family Passover Sedar.

Ashley Albert

Bridesmaid

Ashley is Ally's cousin! Born just a few months before Ally, Ashley and Ally have been bonded since 1988. Spending summers together on the beach in York, Maine, together they shared a love of "Harriet the Spy," performing coordinated (on Ashley's part) and uncoordinated (on Ally's part) dances for their families, and most importantly Celine Dion (also known as Cecil Dijon by John Gotsell). They also shared a hatred of the slide in Ashley's backyard, where Ashley watched as Ally not-so-gracefully tumbled and broke her right arm.

Brian Gotsell

Groomsman

Brian is Ally's younger brother and very arguably the smartest and most responsible member of the Gotsell sibling trio, who made the smart and responsible decision to follow Ally to Stonehill College, inspiring Meggie to do the same. Ally and Eddie love spending time with Brian and his dog, Barkley, watching the chaos that ensues when he is joined by Penny (Ally and Eddie's dog) and Liberty (Meggie's dog).

Kristen Antolini Cardinale

Bridesmaid

Kristen returned from a semester abroad in Italy her junior year to find that a new freshman, Ally, had joined her Stonehill College Democrats. Kristen quickly became Ally's cooler older friend, with Ally making regular appearances in Kristen's court houses for the next year and a half, and then followed her to her Malden, Cambridge and Somerville apartments as Kristen navigated law school and the real world. Bonded by a shared love of Ani Difranco, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and fancy drinks, Kristen and Ally's friendship continues to this day.

Brooks Madden

Groomsman

Eddie and Brooks have been friends since the fifth grade. They'd spend a lot of time downloading things off of Napster and playing the Sims back then. They lived together for two years in college, and then three more as adults. Brooks is a regular at family events (mostly Passover) and is for all intents and purposes a member of the Hand family.

Andrea Fenton

Bridesmaid

Ally met Andrea (formerly, but forever known as Andrea "Tops" Topalis) at Stonehill College their sophomore year, with them even spending a semester as roommates their junior year! Andrea, who also happens to share a birthday with Ally, is always up for a fun hang, whether it be a restaurant outing in West Hartford or a cozy night in watching TLC, but definitely expect her to say signature catchphrase, "oh dear!" at some point!

Shashank Settipalli

Groomsman

Shank and Eddie have known each other as far back as Junior High School but really solidified their friendship in 11th grade english class, particularly over their passion for cinema. They made several short films together in high school and college. As adults, they were roommates for a few years and remain close to this day, often catching films at the Coolidge Corner movie theater or planning a weekend getaway trip.

Anne Hand

Bridesmaid

Annie is Eddie's trivia champion older sister. Although she's lived in Mexico for well over a decade, she and Eddie remain very close and she often comes back to visit. Eddie picked up his sense of humor from her. She has been very welcoming of Ally was the first of the Hand family to meet the Gotsell family back in November 2019.

Stephen Pell

Groomsman

Steve and Eddie became friends in Mr. Duangdara's eighth grade Spanish class around 2002. Steve soon became Eddie's first (but certainly not last) Yu-Gi-Oh friend. His signature card was his Barrell Dragon, in case you were wondering. Steve and Eddie have travelled all over North America since from Disney World, to Arizona, to Montreal. Steve even flew into Kansas City to help Eddie complete the final stretch of a six-month cross-country road trip.

Tuli Saha

Bridesmaid

In middle school, Tuli's family moved right down the street from Ally's family! A mutual friend connected them over AIM saying, "hey, I think you guys are neighbors," and the two spent that summer walking around their neighborhood for hours on end. In the years that followed, they spent many more hours riding the bus, working at Mahoney's and aimlessly wandering together. Ally and Tuli's friendship has lasted another 20+ years, with their adventures expanding beyond Winchester!

Robert Zhang

Groomsman

Like the best man, Victor, Rob and Eddie met in the ninth-grade cafeteria Yu-Gi-Oh scene. At the time Rob was known as the guy who made wacky sound effects to describe what was happening in the game. Rob and Eddie's mutual love of games fostered a friendship that saw them playing indoor soccer together for several years, but it also took them on a fateful trip to Foxwoods Casino in 2011 that saw both newly turned 21-year-olds take home a four figure winnings.