Leah & Bryan
Wedding Party
Elizabeth Nauta
Maid of Honor
Leah and Elizabeth (Biz) met in kindergarten. One day the class needed to switch seats, which made Biz cry. Leah asked her if she wanted to come over and play and when the possibility of eating macaroni and cheese was brought up, it was an offer Biz couldn't refuse. Since their initial play date, the two girls have only gotten in one "serious" fight (which involved whether they were going to go on the swings or play with Barbies) and have been best friends ever since!
Michael Matta
Best Man
Mike & Bryan have been friends for longer than Bryan can remember. Fun facts: Mike works in the cardiac rehab center at the Detroit Medical Center, is an avid lover of Haribo gummy candies, and is a second degree blackbelt in Taekwondo. He is also the honorary godfather of Leah's cat, Luna. Bryan & Mike have countless stories - all of them are great, but most all of them are also best not to be shared on our wedding website. BUT, if you're curious, I bet one of them would love to tell a few on 7/10/2021 after a few drinks!
Cara Lutz
Bridesmaid
Cara and Leah go all the way back to third grade when they became friends at Alward Elementary School. The two were in a lot of "very cool" groups together while they were at Alward including (but of course not limited to) knitting club, American Girl doll club and civic theatre camp. Their friendship has evolved since then and thankfully their interests have, too! Now the two enjoy drinks, desserts, and jamming to Cara's famous playlists in the car together while on the way there. Here's to another adventure together!
Hunter Cooper
Groomsman
Bryan & Hunter met in high school. Since then, they have remained close friends and have went on many adventures. Notably, the two once travelled to a honeymoon resort in Turks and Caicos. On this trip, their luggage was lost and the hotel gave them each $100 to use on clothes. Instead they used this money to buy booze and wore swimsuits for a week straight. Hunter is not only a nice guy, but he's also a very interesting guy. Not only was Hunter a cheerleader in college, but he was also spent time in Israel as part of the Israeli army. Since he returned home to the U.S., he attended the state police academy to become a state trooper and is now known as "Trooper Cooper." Hopefully the wedding will be the first time that you are meeting him...
Kali Phillips
Bridesmaid
Leah and Kali met for the first time at a tennis tournament in what one may call the loser's bracket of the loser's bracket of the loser's bracket (yes, that one didn't go very well for either of them). Their interaction was brief, but years later they both committed to play tennis at Grand Valley and, while they didn't know each other well, they decided to become roommates. Little did they know, their acquaintance would later turn into an amazing friendship that involved competing as doubles partners, seeing the Backstreet Boys in Vegas twice in two days (yes, that really happened and, no, that was not cheap) and now standing together as Leah gets married!
Cory Burres
Groomsman
Cory and Bryan were born on the same hospital on the same day of the same year. They joke about being twins, but once you arrive at the wedding, you will see why this is obviously not the case. Or you could just check out his picture above... Cory and Bryan have been friends for quite a while. Fun fact about Cory is that he is a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army. If you didn't already feel safe at our wedding with our state trooper (see "Hunter Cooper"), you should feel just fine now.
Alana Meulenberg
Bridesmaid
Leah and Alana met through tennis, but specifically, they met in a class where they deemed themselves the "space cadets" because their main mission was to hit the ball as high up into the air as possible. It was a good match for them because neither of them were too serious then and, surprise, surprise, neither of them are too serious now either! Their favorite hobbies growing up included making movies (which shockingly never won any awards), dressing like twins (even though one of them is Mexican and the other is not), and making an entire batch of mini-tollhouse cookies to eat in one sitting while playing Mario Tennis.
Britton Theodoroff
Groomsman
Britton and Bryan grew up together at Orchard Lake Country Club. If you've never been there, worry not, as you'll make your first visit on July 10, 2021. The two have been close friends for life and stayed just as close even after Britton moved to Houston a few years back. You always hear the saying that "it's a small world" and Leah and Britton found that to be true as well as their professional lives crossed paths when they both worked in tax at PricewaterhouseCoopers after college. As a courtesy, Leah would like to respectfully request that any potential solicitations of tax advice or services be directed at Britton Theodoroff (pictured above) during her special day.
Aimee Moccia
Bridesmaid
Aimee and Leah's friendship is yet another product of GVSU tennis (thanks, Coach Black!). The two both found out that you can find not only friends, but also future husbands through GVSU tennis, as both have/will be marrying their GVSU men's team counterparts! The girls became roommates during their time at GVSU and their friendship blossomed ever since. From ruining their workouts by getting massive cupcakes from Cupcakes by Design after tennis practice, to taking on the endeavor of doing a puzzle in the dark after the power went out, the two have definitely made the most of their time together. And, they'll continue to do so as they celebrate another GVSU wedding in the coming year!
Josh Kazdan
Groomsman
Josh and Bryan became close friends while playing tennis for Grand Valley. However, they met before that. It was Bryan's second-ever high school tennis match in his first-ever high school tournament. It was a midnight match and a long one at that. The match came down to a 10-point tiebreaker and Bryan was down 8-9. The point at 8-9 was a long one, neither player wiling to miss. In the middle of this long rally, Josh yelled out "I can go all night!" (in a very serious manner, mind you) and then proceeded to miss the very next shot. After this point, Josh was a bit rattled and double faulted twice to give the win to Bryan. While their friendship was built on a rocky foundation, the two are great friends now. Bryan stood up at Josh's wedding and now Josh will do the same!
Allison Frassetto
Junior Bridesmaid
Allison is not only Leah's cousin, but also her junior bridesmaid. Allison loves gymnastics, writing, drawing, baseball, basketball, and playing with all of Leah's old toys. It's always a blast from the past when Leah get's to relive her childhood playing with Polly Pockets or when she see's her old favorite Abercrombie kids sweatshirt still being worn around. Who wore it better?! That's up for discussion.
Joseph Hodges
Groomsman
While Cory (see above) may be jokingly Bryan's "twin", Joe is actually the blood-relative. As Bryan's older brother, the two have grown up together. They both were on the tennis team and the swim team at Orchard Lake Country Club. Once while at the country club, Bryan hit Joe in the head with a golf ball. Joe's head made it out of this with no permanent damage and he now works as an IT genius and (fun fact) is also an avid ping pong player on the weekends.