We're Getting Married!
Wedding Party
Nina Carballa
Matron of Honor
Nina is one of Katie's earliest friends from college. They met in the communal bathroom of their freshman dorm, Rawlings Hall, at UF at 5AM doing their hair one morning before sorority rush and hit it off. They ended up in different sororities, but Katie & Nina still became fast friends as neighbors(along with their other dorm neighbors Kirsti & Jocelyn-more on them soon!), studying so late they could pick up ChickFilA breakfast, going out, and remaining close after moving out that year. By sophomore year, Katie became a regular at the Fontneau family tailgates, annual Gasparilla birthdays and more. 12 years later, the two have become closer than ever. Nina is truly the most thoughtful and caring friend, not to mention she knows how to bring the party! Everyone needs a Nina in their life!
Jon Schoder
Best Man
Jon is Chris’s younger brother and first friend. Growing up together they enjoyed playing sports, video games, trading cards, and online poker. Their years of practice paid off in 2012, when Chris flew out to Vegas to watch Jon come in 36th out of 6,598 in the World Series of Poker Main Event. After graduating from Emory University, Jon moved to Chicago, where he is lives with his girlfriend Jacky, and became a successful natural gas futures trader. If Jon is late to any of the events during the wedding weekend, it’s a safe bet that he got delayed at the golf course on his way over!
Elizabeth Soler
Bridesmaid
Liz is Katie's oldest friend, since Pre-K 4! They have gone to school together from elementary, middle, high school all the way to college at UF! On their 8th grade field trip to Washington DC, Katie and Liz took a friendship quiz in a magazine that predicted they would be "friends...for now." It's been over 16 years since that night, 24 years total, and their friendship is still going strong! YM Magazine was discontinued anyways.
Alex Fox
Groomsman
Alex and Chris met in 2006, after Alex’s brother Brad transferred to Saint Andrews HS where he and Chris became best friends. Chris lived in the dorms in high school, and because his home in Weston was so far away, the Fox household became his second home after school and on the weekends. Chris and Alex have remained close since then, frequently attending concerts, carpooling up to UF to visit Brad in college, discussing stocks and investments, going to Miami Dolphins games with Chris’s dad Mark, and are always texting about sports. Alex recently purchased a house on the intracoastal in Fort Lauderdale and lives with his girlfriend Shawna, while working in the day with Katie’s brother John, doing social media marketing. He has also become a successful online marketplace seller.
Galia Ramirez
Bridesmaid
Galia is one of Katie's close friends from dental school, and together they have traveled to California, Las Vegas, Italy, and Ireland. During the last 2 years of school, Katie and Galia were placed in the same clinic, where they were able to cover for each others patients, do each others' cleanings during down time, and when Katie chipped her front tooth, it was Galia's keen eye and steady hands she trusted to polish it down as if nothing ever happened!
Brad Fox
Groomsman
Brad and Chris met in early 2006 while playing basketball when Brad was getting ready to transfer to Saint Andrews, but they didn’t become best friends until basketball season later that winter. During the summers they spent entire days playing tennis, basketball, golf, and lifting weights while blasting music from Brad's now antiquated boom box. During one summer during college, Chris moved to an open room in Brad’s apartment at University of Florida and took summer classes there. Chris was a groomsman in Brad’s wedding two years ago in Miami. Brad is now a Doctor in Miami where he lives with his wife Adriana and his son Steven. Chris considers Brad, his younger brother Alex, and his younger sister Olivia, to be family.
Jocelyn Fernandes
Bridesmaid
Jocelyn and Katie also first met in 2009 in their freshman dorm at UF, Rawlings Hall. They learned that night they had both selected the same sorority as well, which would become official the next day! Jocelyn and Katie became close as they did almost everything together over the next 4 years, and their Pi Phi and Rawlings groups merged into one by junior year. There were countless game days, date functions, socials, road trips - including the infamous 18 hour RV trip from Nashville to Gainesville (a drive that should only take 8 hours), the list goes on. Fast forward 12 years, Jocelyn and Katie got engaged a few weeks apart, both in New York City, and currently have each other on speed dial on all things wedding planning.
Joacim Borg
Groomsman
Chris was an RA in the freshman dorms as a Junior, and Joacim was the loudest freshman, so naturally they spent a lot of time interacting (Chris telling Joacim, a DJ, to keep his music down and Joacim pretending he didn’t understand Chris “because he’s Swedish”). Joacim and Chris both moved to South Florida after college and visited each other frequently in Miami and Jupiter including a memorable weekend together where Joacim was the DJ for Miami Beach Polo. One night Chris drove up to Jupiter and went out for dinner and drinks with Joacim in West Palm Beach, only for Chris meet a lovely lady at a rooftop bar named Katie. Joacim was naturally Chris’s first friend to meet Katie, and the rest is history!
Kirsti Roehm
Bridesmaid
Kirsti and Katie also met through their freshman dorm in 2009, but it wasn't until they saw each other out in New Orleans on NYE in 2010 after the Sugar Bowl that they, along with Jocelyn and Nina, began to all hang out regularly! Kirsti and Katie spent a majority of their time in undergrad together at Library West, as they both suffered through classes like Organic Chemistry and Physics at UF - but always managed to find time for fun after exams. Although they have always lived far apart post-college, Kirsti and Katie have remained very close since graduation and have always managed regular visits (the bond between red heads is a special thing!). Fun fact - Kirsti is Chris's optometrist and he will drive 3 hours across the state to see her!
John Brattebo
Groomsman
John and Chris met in 2013 when Chris first began dating his older sister Katie. John and Chris have attended countless Miami Dolphins, Florida Panthers, and Miami Marlins games together and always keep each other up to date on the most recent team news. John flew to New York during the height of the pandemic to help Chris and Katie move out and pack the U-Haul, then drove with Chris for 18 hours down the coast to where Chris and Katie now live in Palm Beach Gardens. John is also the #1 airport chauffeur, living 5 minutes away from FLL, and is always offering to help anyone at any time. After being promoted many times, John is now a managing a team at a social media marketing company. Chris now has two brothers, Jon and John!
Lauren Weir
Bridesmaid
Katie and Lauren became friends early on as D1s at UFCD as they lived just a few doors down from each other - and bonded over their love for all things Gainesville, Gator Football, spicy margaritas, and the fact that they drove matching Honda CR-Vs! Lauren was way ahead her time back then, as she would not stay up to study any later than 9PM, and still managed to ace every exam! (It would take 5 more years for Katie to understand the magic of getting a full 8+ hours of sleep.) Together they have traveled to California, Las Vegas, Italy, Ireland, as well as on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic. Fun fact: Lauren is an ordained minister, so if anyone happens to be so inspired by Chris and Katie's love story that they too want to get married, Lauren can marry you on the spot!
Mathias Sorensen
Groomsman
Mathias is from Denmark, but was living in Orlando while studying when he walked into a business Chris owned in the area. They soon became close friends and Mathias left student housing to live in one of Chris’s spare bedrooms for the rest of the year. Mathias didn’t know it at the time, but he was also signing up for language classes by moving in with Chris, who helped him perfect his English. Since that year, Mathias has flown to Miami at least once a year to spend a week with Chris and sometimes visits in September to celebrate his birthday. Chris is flying to Denmark in July for Mathias’s wedding, and is very excited for him and his fiancé Josephine.
Nikki Swanson
Bridesmaid
Nikki and Katie also met through dental school, where Nikki lived in the apartment downstairs. They were also fast friends at UFCD through many late night study marathons, 5am Orange Theory sessions, and through all the adventures that would follow on grad school breaks. In 4 short years, they managed to travel together to California, Las Vegas, Chicago, Italy, Ireland, and on the mission trip to the Dominican Republic. Nikki is a great travel companion, because you will never miss your stuff coming out of baggage claim next to her XL full zebra print luggage decked out with neon pink ribbons. She is also a big prankster, and having her around always keeps things light and fun-except for the time she put a fake (but very realistic) snake in Lauren and Katie's bedroom in the Dominican!
Michael Tobia
Groomsman
Michael and Chris met in 2007 at Bentley when they were freshman and played intramural basketball and other sports together. Michael and his roommates, Tim and James, threw the famous Tropical Party for Chris’s 21st birthday, which included ordering living palm trees to Boston. Michael joined Chris after college on many cruises around the Caribbean and have traveled together to Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Croatia, Belgium, Switzerland, Czech Republic, and even a Dolphins game in London. Michael has been a generous host when Chris and his friends frequently visited Manhattan, always providing a place to stay. After returning from an internship with the United Nations in India, Michael has worked with Chris and his dad Mark to build a telemedicine company since 2014.
Robin Blackman
Bridesmaid
Robin was one of Katie's first friends in dental school. Everything at UFCD was alphabetized by last name, so it was inevitable that Katie Brattebo and Robin Blackman became very close very fast. From Day 1, they were placed in the same cadaver lab group, sim lab group, Clinic 2A, and were also nocturnal studiers/meme exchangers together (RIP Blue Room)- Katie and Robin were together all the time and helped each other through the ups and downs of dental school. They were also known by name as regulars at the campus Starbucks. They had plenty of fun too, though! Over the 4 years there were many Gator football games, post-exam celebrations, Bachelor Mondays (and a shared interest in bad reality TV), and countless plates of loaded tater tots at Social (IYKYK).
Yash Vazirani
Groomsman
Yash and Chris met in 2009 when they were both assigned to be RA’s in the same building at Bentley University. Yash had joined a fraternity started by a number of Chris’s friends from his freshman dorm, so they had a lot of friends in common. Yash has a brilliant financial mind and together Yash and Chris learned about stocks as well as call and put options, and sometimes even skipped class to trade the markets during the crazy 2009 financial crisis. During the summer of Yash’s senior year in college, he declined a Finance internship in Boston to instead move to Highland Beach, Florida where he and Chris studied for the CFA exam and traded stocks. Since then, they have invested together in different companies, started their own businesses, and are always sharing ideas.