Wedding Party
Bre Butler
Bre and I met in the early days of Highland elementary school and bonded over our love of basketball and little sister-hood. We got the chance to reconnect many years later in California, and bonded over our love for health foods and traveling. When she’s not traveling all over the world or getting advanced degrees, she’s helping to save lives at work. She’s also a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, and I’m confident that she could beat any of the groomsmen in one-on-one.
James San Miguel
Poor James has been stuck with me since kindergarten. A friendship was born over years of sleepovers and Pokémon card battles, and I’m beyond grateful that James will be by my side on my wedding day. This past spring James traded his dumbbells for pacifiers, protein shakes for milk bottles, as he and his wife Ramsie welcomed their baby girl, Cambrie, to the world. We’re all hoping the “Dad bod” sets in soon.
Erica Duran
Erica has been one of my closest friends since high school. I’ve always been impressed by her adventurous spirit, and my favorite reality TV show is tuning in to her Find My location. Together, we swam with sharks, hiked miles to lava flows in the middle of the night, and stayed in a beeping treehouse Airbnb in the middle of a rainforest. I’m so grateful her Find My location will be standing by my side at the wedding.
Justin Brooks
Justin lived across the street from me growing up and raided my family’s pantry for over 15 years. We built snowmen together, won basketball championships together, and made two music videos together that surprisingly still slap over a decade later. Justin and his wife Lindsey have two wonderful kids that somehow look more like Justin than Justin looks like Justin. I couldn’t be happier that he’s built such a beautiful family to protect and guard for the rest of his life, because he sure as hell could never guard me.
Lauren Petela
Lauren and I connected over a prank at a birthday party in 7th grade, and a friendship for life was born. From building houses in New Orleans, to scaring kids at the Trail of Terror, to adventures in California and Seattle, Lauren is the kind of friend you’re lucky to have in your life. She and her husband, Eric, have two wonderful daughters, Maddie—whose fashion sense is better than anyone reading this—and baby Olivia, who has already stolen everyone’s hearts (and maybe some sleep, too).
Matt Smith
Matt and I have been best friends since kindergarten, which makes him technically tied for my oldest friend, but we’ll give him the title since he’s basically 40 years old. We’ve been co-workers, college roommates, and may possibly still be considered fugitives in the state of Oregon. If Janet’s family is reading this, you have nothing to worry about… These days, Matt is back home with his dream career as an English teacher, shaping the minds of our youth. God help us all.
Liz Kadow
My friendship with Liz grew during high school, but we had been friendly opponents in various Gannon leagues before that and you could always tell she was one of the best on the team. She’s the type of friend who is always down for an adventure, and we’ve had our share, like backpacking Europe after college, RVing through Zion during Covid, and countless others. Today, Liz is an ER doctor in Providence, literally living out the things you see happening on The Pitt. Please no medical emergencies at the wedding - Liz is off duty.
Nick Bursell
Nick grew up one house down the street from me on Fritz Cove with his brother Zack. Although he was a couple years younger than the rest of us, he became the youngest member of the Fritz Cove Mafia, which is a high honor in our neighborhood. Nick and I spent most of our days playing basketball, quoting Family Guy, and terrorizing the neighbor that lived in the house between ours. Today, Nick lives amongst the hippies of Portland, OR and we share the burden of being closeted Trailblazers fans.
Sam Orcutt
I first met Sam through a Facebook-like find-your-roommate portal, which led to one very lucky roommate match. I couldn’t have predicted that she’d quickly become a lifelong friend and we’d end up rooming together for the next four years. Sam has always been the confident leader of the group who everyone looks to when a plan needs to be made or a situation needs to be handled. Today, Sam and her husband Josh live in New Jersey, clearly influenced by all the hours of Jersey Shore we’d watch in Ithaca.
Zack Bursell
Zack has been one of my best friends for decades and we have the middle school dance photos to prove it. Summer days were always spent at Zack and Nick’s house, where you came to shoot hoops and play GameCube, and then you left because they only had healthy snacks. Back home, Zack is quite literally the fastest man in town and has become a bit of a community figure serving as the high school’s cross country and track coach. You can always count on Zack for a good heart-to heart, and to outshine any athletic achievement you’ve ever earned.