Laura & Ryan
Wedding Party
Claire Checovich
Maid of Honor
Claire is Laura's favorite sister, and like most sisters have endless inside jokes about their shared trials and tribulations. After getting over the initial insult of no longer being an only child, Laura decided it was actually a blessing to have a built-in life-long best friend. Laura loves Claire's fierce independence and her natural inclination to help others and Ryan can't wait to add another sister to the pack. Claire will graduate from Marquette University in May 2018 and is still deciding on what to do next.
Rylie Rainey
Best Woman
Rylie and Ryan met at the Rockford Memorial Hospital in 1996. As brother and sister, they've gone from arguing over who should get the last sip from a bottle of juice to traveling through Europe together and arguing over who should get the last sip from a bottle of wine. Both Ryan and Laura love Rylie's commitment to her principles, the value she places on her family, and how hard she works for what she wants. Ryan is immensely proud of his sister, who will graduate with a degree in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh in 2018.
Hope Tyson
Bridesmaid
Hope and Laura met in college after being assigned to the same dorm floor. After seeing in each other a kindred spirit, they decided to move in together their junior year. They shared a home for nearly 2 years, and made sure to host weekly "family dinners" at their apartment along with their other roommates and friends. Laura and Ryan admire Hope's tenacious pursuit for what is right and her willingness to always lend and ear and provide good counsel. She has been a witness to Laura and Ryan's relationship from the very beginning and has always supported them. Hope lives in Durham, NC, where she works for women's access to reproductive healthcare around the world.
Brian Phelps
Groomsman
Brian and Ryan met while working as UW tour guides, and quickly became close after ranking their favorite indie rock albums. Just as Ryan and Brian were getting to know each other, Laura and Brian were seatmates in a summer political science course. A few months later, Brian introduced Ryan and Laura. Brian has been a close friend to both Ryan and Laura for nearly a decade. He is an intensely loyal and caring person, and has been one of the strongest advocates for their relationship since the beginning. And despite living in a different city, he's regularly in touch to chat about Badger basketball or the latest Pitchfork reviews. Brian lives and works in Chicago as an attorney.
Rachel Olejniczak
Bridesmaid
Rachel and Laura became friends in college, when they moved in together after only having met a few times. It turned out that moving in with a stranger was one of Laura's better decisions — Rachel turned out to be one of her very best friends and constant cheerleader. Laura and Ryan are always impressed by her ingenuity, inventiveness, and willingness to take risks. After a number of years in Paris, Rachel is currently studying global communications at the London School of Economics and will be returning to the US to finish her degree next year after over five years of living in Europe.
Aditya Salunkhe
Groomsman
Aditya was Ryan's archnemesis on the Roscoe Middle School quiz bowl team. After Adi got over coming in second to Ryan for the right to compete in the 2003 Illinois state geography bee, they decided to become friends. Since then, they've been like brothers. In high school, they explored the entire Winnebago County Forest Preserve district together, and in college they stayed close despite the distance between Madison and Evanston. He still visits Ryan out in DC, and is always one of Ryan and Laura's first calls when they're back in the Midwest. Adi lives in the Chicago area and works in the healthcare industry.
Maggi LeDuc
Bridesmaid
Maggi and Laura met in elementary school at Our Lady Queen of Peace School. After a fateful meeting on the playground, they have been lifelong friends constantly pushing each other to reach farther and achieve more. Laura appreciates Maggi for standing with her through teenage angst, cross-country moves and a million other little dramas and keeping a smile on her face. She is a loyal and patient friend and a wonderful listener and sounding board. Maggi works in Washington, DC for a nonprofit healthcare research organization.
Katherine Krueger
Groomswoman
Katherine and Ryan met at The Badger Herald, the student newspaper where they both were reporters. Amid trading off coverage of Madison city council meetings or student government controversies, they developed a close friendship. Ryan and Laura value Katherine's intellect, her fearless commitment to her values, and her podcast recommendations. Katherine lives and works as a journalist in New York, and occasionally shuttles down to Washington to visit Laura and Ryan (or vice versa).
Natasha Holmes
Bridesmaid
Natasha and Laura met in high school at Madison West High School. They met through participation in DECA- a marketing, management and entrepreneurship club. This was just the beginning of a life-long friendship. Laura loves Natasha for her no-nonsense wit and her intense dedication and drive. Natasha is currently working in Madison for the UW Hospital, but she's always got 2-3 side-hustles you should ask about.
Nate Moll
Groomsman
Nate and Ryan met when they learned they would be the new roommates in the Treehouse, an eight-person apartment at UW, the following year. For their last year at UW, they joined up with Joe Dewitt to form the Threehouse (get it?) - Ryan and Nate even shared a room. Both Laura and Ryan love his earnestness, his enthusiasm for his friends, and his quick humor. Nate lives in Madison and works for UW's communications office.
Kelsey Goetz
Usher
Kelsey and Laura met in graduate school at the University of Maryland. They actually were introduced before even arriving at UMD by a mutual friend from UW-Madison, where they were both undergraduates. Both Laura and Ryan value Kelsey as their Badger friend in DC and admire her ceaseless curiosity and willingness to ask philosophical questions out of the blue. Kelsey works in Washington, DC as a data and program analyst for an organization focused on improving the federal government.
Grant Sheldon
Usher
Grant and Ryan have known each other since second grade. They've been close friends since the end of high school, when Grant, Ryan and Aditya were so inseparable that Ryan's dad referred to them as a "trinity." Ryan values Grant's quick sense of humor, his willingness to reminisce about life in their hometown of Roscoe, and — sometimes — the clever jokes at Ryan's expense that he concocts with Aditya. Grant lives in the Bay Area, where he works for a Silicon Valley tech company.
Madeline Cohn
Usher
Maddie and Laura met in graduate school at the University of Maryland. They became fast friends over a shared love of telling loud stories and commiserating over statistics homework. Both Laura and Ryan value Maddie's quick-to-laugh personality (though Ryan especially appreciate that she laughs at his bad jokes) and her intense loyalty to her friends. Maddie works in Washington, DC as a homeland security and emergency preparedness consultant.
Joe Dewitt
Usher
Joe and Ryan met through the Treehouse, and later lived with Nate in the Threehouse. They have shared many an adventure and inside joke. Ryan loves how Joe is something of a pop culture polymath: He knows almost everything you could want to know about sports, literature, movies, and TV. When he's not aggressively cheering for the Bucks or the Badgers, Joe works as a computer programmer in Madison.