David & Taryn
Wedding Party
Megan St. Martin
Matron of Honor
Taryn's sister and best friend. Taryn happily followed in her big sister's footsteps pretty much all throughout childhood. One of Taryn's favorite memories of their childhood, was the year they both played center midfield together for their HS soccer team, and their team went to the NYS championship finals. Megan was always the boss on the field (and also in real life...). Megan went on to play division I soccer at Providence College in Rhode Island and Taryn again followed her to the same state, but decided she preferred to be a less committed, but still very competitive division III athlete :-) They became very close in their college years and still FaceTime each other nearly every day.
Kevin Fitzgerald
Best Man
Kevin and David first met at Columbia admitted students' weekend, but ended up as classmates at Harvard Law School. David was relieved that one of his first law school friends was another easygoing midwesterner who had just graduated (well, sort of) from fraternity life. The likeminded strangers in a strange land quickly became friends, appearing to belong in Cambridge as much as Elle Woods, and have remained so ever since. Though they haven't been able to visit one another as much as they'd like in recent years, David keeps in close touch with his law school friends. Kevin has (along with their other law school friends) provided loads of compassion and levity through David's most difficult and happiest times. David thought it appropriate the "sharebros" have a representative as best man.
Andrea Keenan
Bridesmaid
Taryn's long-time childhood friend from Rochester, NY. They met on the soccer field at some point during elementary school and ended up as neighbors, best friends and teammates throughout middle and high school. Even though they did not end up at the same college, Andrea is referred to as an honorary graduate of RWU amongst Taryn and Dave's (another one of Taryn's best friends from HS and college) friends. They still visit each other multiple times a year despite living nearly 1000 miles away. Fun fact: Andrea's first cousin, Matt, married Taryn's first cousin, Kristen, while they were in middle school. Taryn likes to remind Andrea that she can never escape their friendship, since they are technically family now :-)
Jean-Louis Castro-Malaspina
Groomsman
JL was one of David's first college friends and his fraternity brother, and has remained one of his closest friends ever since. Many of David's most cherished college (and post-college) experiences were spent with JL and some of their Vandy crew. David was able to introduce JL and his future wife, Liz, to Taryn when they visited New York City this past year. Thanks to their shared, often bizarre sense of humor, David and JL find little trouble picking right up wherever they last left off each time they meet. David has been very happy to see JL's and his other Vandy friends' successes in the decade since they graduated. David and Taryn will be attending JL and Liz's wedding this fall in Pennsylvania.
Jill Scott
Bridesmaid
David's sister. Taryn first met Jill when Taryn and David went to California, shortly after David and Taryn first started dating. They met Jill and her boyfriend, Travis, at a Mexican restaurant on the beach, close to where Jill and Travis live in Santa Cruz, CA. They were also all able to spend Thanksgiving weekend together last year at David's parent's house in Greenville, SC. Jill and Taryn share a mutual love for cats and other furry creatures!
Brad St. Martin
Groomsman
David has Brad, Taryn's brother-in-law, and Megan (her sister) to thank for meeting Taryn. David and Taryn's first date was in Lexington, where Brad was finishing med school. Brad and Megan invited David over for dinner shortly after he started dating Taryn. Like Chef Brad's French Laundry-quality cooking, David passed the initial interrogation. Brad is a medical resident and just the sort of doc you want: he loves his job and will crack a joke at just the right time to lighten the mood. David has been fortunate to visit Brad, Meg, and their always entertaining sons in California several times since they've moved there.
Jackie Zeeman
Bridesmaid
Taryn's good friend and co-resident at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, TN. Taryn and Jackie happened to interview on the same day at Le Bonheur when they were both still in pharmacy school and immediately hit it off. When they both found out they matched at the same hospital for residency, they were so excited and knew they would become great friends. Jackie now resides in Durham, NC where she is a professor at UNC School of Pharmacy, but they both have been able to visit one another and they remain close friends.
Mike Quell
Groomsman
Also David's close friend and fraternity brother, Mike is almost always wearing the huge (and often mischievous) grin you see above. David has to have Mike explain what on earth he does for a living every time they visit each other: it's really sophisticated and involves "hedge funds and algorithms or something," David recalls. Mike has always made efforts to visit and generously host David in the years since they graduated and will always be the first to excitedly and sincerely ask how things are going when you haven't seen him awhile. Mike never meets a stranger, as anyone who shares a drink with him in California will immediately discover.
Kyle Franco
Bridesmaid
When Taryn accepted her current position at Norton Children's Hospital, her boss told her that another pharmacist, Kyle, would be starting at the same time as her. Taryn was really glad that someone else would be the "new person" at work with her, but it wasn't until 6 months later on the day they met in person, that Taryn learned that Kyle was in fact a girl, and she also went to college in Rhode Island! They hit it off and have become great friends and coworkers over the past two years since they both moved to Kentucky. David and Taryn have become great friends with Kyle and her husband, Charlie, as well as their dog Neville :)
Hank Paxton
Groomsman
David hopes you won't read too much into this trend, but Hank is David's close friend and, yet again, a fraternity brother. David became especially close to Hank and his wife, Megan, after he moved back to Nashville following law school, spending most of his Saturdays with them (and often, their dogs). Hank also makes a great business partner: he invented some sort of fancy thermoelectric device with his engineering skills, and included David in the resulting business venture despite being the brains behind all of it. Upon meeting Hank, who is just as friendly as everyone else in the wedding party, it won't surprise you to discover he is a proud Kentucky native and bourbon connoisseur.