Holly & Gabriel
Wedding Party
Stephanie Lotven
Maid of Honor
We've been besties since we bonded over paper mâché in the fourth grade. In junior high we questioned every assumption. When we were 16, we rode around in her little red Celica blasting Tom Petty's Wildflowers. I missed her terribly when I moved away my junior year of high school. We were reunited in college at Mizzou, and then again after I convinced her and her awesome husband Samson to move to Korea. I can't wait for the day when we live in the same town again. Stephanie is an artist in her core and most recently has made quite a name for herself designing knitting patterns. Oh, and she's responsible for the adorable flower girls!
Niles Freebury
Groomsman
Niles has been my best friend since the 90's, a sports rival in high school, and my "road dawg" on an epic cross-country drive. We became platonic life partners (officially) in 2009. In addition to being a great friend Niles is a great cook, practitioner and teacher of mindfulness and movement (through Feldenkrais®), an original thinker and a connoisseur of wine, cuisine, and NBA basketball. He lives in San Francisco with his lovely and talented wife Majkin. Ask him about the wine at our reception. He's likely to know more about it than I do.
Chrissy Stillman
Bridesmaid
We were in the same womb!! Along with being a great wombmate, she's also awesome. While she did beat me up a fair bit growing up, she also let me sleep in her bed when I had nightmares and taught me the fine art of the early 90s poofy bang. These days, she's found her niche dwelling among her kind - the hippies of Oregon. Chrissy is a talented musician, gardener, lover-of-pups, and landscape architect-in-training.
Augustine Porter
Groomsman
Gus is a husband to the amazing Melanie, father to the incredible Ellis, inventor of ocean floor mapping technology, and (soon-to-be PHD) Scientist. But before all that we shared a glorious childhood exploring parks, beaches, playgrounds, and basketball courts around San Francisco. Gus inspired many of my passions in life including surfing, camping, and biking. Gus and Mel are some of the best hosts you'll find and I'm always extremely grateful that all of my attempts to kill him were un-successful.
Margaret Howe
Bridesmaid
We started as an unlikely pair, but after spending our Junior year of college together in Saarbrücken, Germany and bonding over train rides, verb conjugations, and the best beers, we dug into each other's souls. Three years later, she changed my life by convincing me to move to Changwon, South Korea. In total, Marge and I have been to at least five countries together. These days, Marge is a crop-insurance savant, queen of the side hustle, and can often be found wrangling her three adorable girls.
Charles "Chase" Holenstein
Groomsman
Chase is a bit of a renaissance man. He works as a designer but is also a talented musician and accomplished athlete. We forged a tight relationship when we lived together as kids and have continued be close in adulthood. Chase, his Wife Andrea, and her family invited Holly, my brother Greg, and I on a week-long camping trip to the Sierras in 2015. It was one of the best weeks of my life and made me appreciate having them in our lives even more. Chase lives in Brooklyn with Annie (who is also awesome) and their beautiful son Juno.
Mindy Stillman
Bridesmaid and Mother of the Bride
I know it's unconventional to have your mom as one of your bridesmaids, but I just like her so friggin' much! Not only is she super fun and STOKED about WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING, she's probably the most kind and generous person I know. This lover of both people and animals spent her life teaching special needs students, and now is spending her retirement singing, playing in a ukulele band, gardening, and dancing the night away!
Charles Porter
Groomsman
Charles is a funny, kind, and sensitive young man. He's a great person to camp, cook, play games, or just hang out with. Charles is a great teammate and is annoyingly good at every sport he plays, especially golf and basketball. He was actually the first person to ask me if I was going to ask Holly to marry me, so you can thank him for #Golly2018. Thanks, Chuck!
Jon Goldman
Bridesman
This wedding wouldn't be happening if it weren't for Jon and his insistence on adventuring. Jon and I became fast friends when I cracked up at his off-color movie-reference during a TESOL training in Thailand. Three weeks later, and his friendship with Gabe is the reason Gabe and I are here together today. I have adventured with Jon in Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand, and he is a great scuba diving, hiking, and kayaking partner. This former Marine wants to see ALL THE THINGS and he doesn't care how early we have to get up to do it.
Benjamin Ramsden-Stein
Groomsman
Ben and I met on a Freshman orientation back-packing trip in 2004. We quickly bonded over long (and painful) walks in the mountains, epic star-gazing nights, and building a raft out of fallen trees which we paddled around a lake at 8,500+ft. It was cold. Ben is thoughtful, compassionate, always excited for an adventure and takes on all challenges with a smile. Dr. Ramsden-Stein is currently splitting time between Salinas, CA where he is a resident and San Francisco where his awesome partner Chrissy lives in the Mission District.
Samuel Colvin
Bridesman
I met Sam at a TESOL training in Thailand a few weeks before I met Gabe. He was there to cheer me on from the first day I developed a crush on Gabe and wouldn't shut up about it. Besides being really, really ridiculously good-looking, Sam will sing all the musical numbers with you and is one of the best humans with the biggest hearts you can imagine. These days, Sam is hyper-enthusiastic about all the things and spends his time wrangling kiddos and finding all the best memes.
Helen Porter
Groomswoman
Helen Aka "Siss", is a smart, deeply caring, ferociously independent, generous, adventurous, and fiercely loyal person. As the middle child in our family she learned how to care for and not take any Sh*t from 5 brothers while being the glue of the family. Helen is a great dancer who loves to travel, camp, play (competitive) games, and meet new people. Siss has traveled alone through Chile and with me in Costa Rica where we once spent a stormy night on a beach surrounded by wild dogs after almost renting someone else's house from a squatter. (It's a long story). To me Helen is a wonderful, supportive sister, a great person to cook, eat, adventure, and talk with, and a good and generous soul.
Colleen Corkery
Bridesmaid
Colleen and I met in Changwon, Korea while working at the same English-immersion kindergarten. We sang goofy songs with adorable Korean cabbage-patch dolls and made pictures with food by day, and ate octopi and explored the bizzaro-land that is Korea by night. We were so inseparable, that people were known to refer to us collectively as "Holleen." These days, Colleen is tackling her newest frontier: New York. She knows all the rockin' tunes, is up for whatever adventure you can throw at her, and has an amazing and contagious laugh.
Jaime Freebury
Groomsman
James and I have been friends since I was about 8 when I learned to respect him for his fearless tackles in 2v2 footbal and admire his ability to vividly narrate games of Dungeons and Dragons. James roams San Francisco searching for beauty, practicing his skill with a long sword, and reciting entire books of Homer's The Odyssey from memory. James expresses his soul (which we believe to have been transported from the renaissance period) as an actor, producer, and director in theatre and short film productions. We share an affinity for throwing things, making bad music and worse jokes. James is a great person to camp, dance, shoot hoops, sing, or talk with. He makes me think and laugh. James loves tea, reading, history, music, supporting fellow artists, and Warriors basketball.
Raymond Porter
Musician/Brother
Raymond is what we all fear in a younger brother. He has grown up to be better looking, more athletic, more creative and talented, and possibly even nicer than me. One of his talents (music) will be on display on our wedding day. Raymond is also an excellent artist, surfer, basketball player, and aspiring architect. More importantly he's just a great guy and wonderful brother. One of the best times of my life (before Holly) was our 2010 trip to Australia when Ray and I got to surf, camp, travel, and explore Sydney for a month. Ray's other skills include making profiteroles and delicious mixed drinks and dunking on people in pick-up basketball games.
Gregory Porter
Musician/Brother
Greg will be playing music at our wedding. Despite a monumental gap in skill level, Greg is always gracious with me when we play music or surf together. He humors my attempts to keep up and incessant questions like "how do you play that part?", "What's the harmony?" "What is a 'third'?" and "Where do you think we should surf?" (at least 8 times in a row) even though they drive him crazy. In addition to playing and writing music, Greg also surfs "really good", does impressive wood-work, and is a great dog Dad. We have spent many memorable hours exploring the west coast together and camping in both the most epic and terrible of national parks. Greg is one of the smartest, most creative, and honest people I know.
Hannah Vonder Haar
Officiant
Hannah and I met at Camp Aurora, a United Church of Christ summer camp in nowhere mid-Missouri. Our camp friendship continued into counseling together at the same camp as adults, and then into meeting up anytime we managed go get ourselves in the same place. I am so happy that we are finally living in the same town and get to see each other regularly. Hannah is a girl after my own heart; she loves sun, float trips, music, travel, the outdoors, and dinners with friends. These days, Hannah is working to integrate the arts into every classroom across the state. When she's not improving the happiness and learning potential of children, she can be found creating new pieces for her beautiful, nature-inspired jewelry line. Oh, and officiating weddings!!