Terri

Mother of the Bride

Paul & Carol

Father & Stepmother of the Bride

Aaron

Older Brother of the Bride

Will

Younger Brother of the Bride

Cameron / "Cam"

Nephew of the Bride

Vicky

Mother of the Groom

Ian

Best Man

Ian is my older brother.

Gopal

Groomsman

Gopal and his wife and son are dear friends of mine and of our family.

Sean

Groomsman

Sean is the head instructor at D.C. Yoshinkan Aikido Hana. I've been training with him for 10 years.

Stan

Groomsman

Stan is the husband of my dear friend Isabel. He is an accomplished musician and a retired marine.

Lee

Groomsman

Lee is my former colleague from Verizon when I was a telephone technician in NYC.

Andy

Groomsman

Andy was my best friend growing up. He and his family are close friends of ours.

Aaron

Groomsman

I have known Aaron all my life. He and his wife, Lexi, were instrumental in bringing Mary and me together.

Rob

Groomsman

Rob and I work at the same middle school. He teaches art and is an accomplished painter.

Nic Mills Shihan

Honored Guest

I am honored to have Nic Mills Sensei, 7th Dan Yoshinkan Aikido, and his wife, Vera as our guests at the wedding. He is the head instructor of the Sendokan Dojo in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and has been a teacher and advisor to Sean and me since 2015.

Naomi

Bridesmaid

You are the best wife & mom our family could have EVER hoped to gain when my brother married you, and you're the sister I am SO LUCKY to have in my life! You help everyone around you simplify and feel soothed. You are always steady and supportive. Your students adore you, and you always give so wholeheartedly to your community through fundraising and so much more. You do it ALL yet you still manage to run like 10 miles and meet your own high standards and self-set goals every day! I can't WAIT for all of my friends & bridesmaids to meet you as my beloved sis, and to dance to Rihanna together in October! My #1 goal is make our wedding half as fun as yours was! Get on your boots with the fur, girl! When you know, you know!

Allison

Bridesmaid

My beloved "Alyson," we've been best friends since high school! You are like a second daughter to my mom, and you've always been so close with my younger bro AND me. Our whole family adores you! I look forward to laughing with you until 5am the whole wedding weekend just like we did at my 40th! Oh wait...I guess I'm SUPPOSED to get rest as the bride. Don't make too many jokes or I won't be able to go to bed! If only I could survive on 4 hours of sleep and still make it to spin class like you do! PLUS lead your whole team as a wildly successful occupational therapist. From all of our cruises and parties and pool time as teenagers, to all of our family dinners, you (and your fam!) have been a huge part of my life. Can't WAIT to celebrate with you.

Stephanie

Bridesmaid

From our first date as friends at Kramerbooks to discuss The God of Small Things, to the evolution of our book club & friendship throughout grad school (read: that epic Arrested Development party), to years of crying (and cry-LAUGHING) in Takoma Park through all of our highs & lows, you have been my ROCK in the DMV since 2007! I love your radiant, sunshiney spirit, your ability to make the most delicious cakes in the world, and the way you *always* lift others up no matter what you're feeling or shouldering! Though I'm a painfully ordinary person compared to your TED-talking, EPA-queening self, somehow you love me and never miss an opportunity to show me just how much. Can't wait to just be in your light all throughout the wedding weekend!

Hazel

Bridesmaid

NEIGHBOR! It was so hard to leave our block after almost 10 years, but I guess that's what love'll do to you! That day we danced out in the rain in 2021 brought us so close, so quickly, and I just cannot BELIEVE how many unforgettable times we've had since then! You're the "newest" friend of my bridesmaids, but the way I fall asleep so easily on your couch makes me feel like we've been friends for so much longer. Thank you for loving red meat and all things bride-related. Thank you for my Miss to Mrs. mug that gets me HYPE like whoa every day about the wedding! Thank you for always joining me in ordering appetizers AND dessert. We are foodies and friends forever. Can't wait to savor all the delights together our wedding weekend—gustatory and otherwise! You are always there for your loved ones, and I admire you more than you know—for your selflessness, your boss lady sauciness, your hilarious jokes, and so, SO much more. Thank you for also being my cooking mentor! No one can make meat melt in my mouth like you! You'll forever be like family, no matter *where* we both shall live. :)

Shelagh

Bridesmaid

There is no end to the fun we have every time we get together! Every year we grow closer, and I thank you for being a friend of my mind, my soul, and my weird! From our MFAs in Creative Writing to our annual writers conferences & retreats, you have always inspired in me more pages (and puns!), not to mention more unforgettable DC nights. From our shared love for meaty cabernets and decadent cheese (also a shared love between Beth and me!), and for pitch-perfect quotes, lines, and conversations—you are my soul sister and I am ever-thankful for our connection! Wedding guests (+ the world!) should also know you A) you can sing every lyric to every song (*especially* musicals! just like Mike!) B) you know basically every fact about EVERYTHING (which makes sense for you as a highly celebrated professor but is still mind-blowing every time you surprise me) C) you belong on Jeopardy but somehow you exist with us mortals on the daily! Like Stephanie, your TEDx fame hasn't kept you from being the same genuine, humble friend who lifts everyone up around you.

Beth

Bridesmaid

Beth—you are a badass in every realm of your life! I admire you as one of those very rare leaders who empowers others to stay committed to greatness. Whenever I am the MOST tired and it is the MOST painfully early, I always try to channel you and your strength. You have no idea just how many difficult mornings of pushing through fatigue in building my business have been possible because of YOU and your example. Just the *thought* of you gives me resilience. And though your INSANE work ethic and unique talent has already made you a trendsetter in your field as a head and neck surgeon, you remain ever-empathetic, compassionate, and benevolent. You are so driven, and up before the sun on the daily, yet you still manage to be a poet at heart! From our days as first-year college students singing Indigo Girls in the showers at Vanderbilt, to our wine & cheese parties (in lieu of frat parties!), to our years and years of sharing our most significant moments, most poignant agonies, and most profound joys, you are always the knower of my depths—even across the miles. I know we're going to be crying all weekend, but thankfully we can just write some poems about it!

Jen

Bridesmaid

Dearest Jen, I cannot wait to have a blast with you all weekend long. I will never forget how hard we laughed together when you got married, and I am SO excited to try to recreate that level of fun as bridesmaids! Like Allison, your pithy, hilarious self is just going to MAKE the whole weekend! Just you two meeting at last = a long-time dream of mine coming true. From our workshops as MFAs, to our countless hedonistic trips to Clyde's and myriad other DMV favorites, you are always that friend who is ready to have an amazing time. You are also the individual who taught me that 1:1 time really matters—with both our students AND our friends—and the gift of that advice changed my life more than you know. You have such a way of affirming others; we are all so lucky to have you cheering us on. When you're not publishing in McSWEENEY’S (!), you're changing lives as an English teacher (as Vicky did for so many years!) I know you're busy raising two children like Beth & Cathy & Allison & Stephanie AND molding our next generation, but can you maybe just take off an entire week so we can have more time together? ;)

Cathy

Bridesmaid

Your writing—and your friendship—inspires me and emboldens me! From your oh-so-enjoyed-by-all "silent laugh" to your way of putting words together (in meaningful cards for friends and in all of your pieces), I adore you for your critical analyses AND the way you really, really listen to others and sink into moments. It's such a rare ability, that stillness. And I think you're one of the few people who works nonstop as a mother (of a toddler at that!) & writer & professor and still manages to be in your power *and* find peace and self-reflection as a beautifully "thinking" individual. I look up to you as both a writer and a teacher, and I love the way your kitchen is as clean as your syntax! How do you do it all?! I'll never know. :) Can't wait to make you laugh (albeit silently) in October! Words cannot express how grateful I am to have taken that literature course with you during grad school so long ago.

Chloe

Bridesmaid

Even when you moved away from DC to UNC Chapel Hill for your Master's, then again for your brilliant work at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, we grew closer and closer! Despite our distance, thank you for always planning trips with me every year—to Amish country, to desert perches, to mountaintops, to lush fields with cows, and to New York (even Hudson!)—you have taught me to drink in countless scapes I wouldn't even notice otherwise. You are my kindred spirit. You love analyzing every dimension of life in such a panoramic, granular way. We speak the same language; we love every nuance. You make SUCH an effort to show up for your friends no matter how busy you are. You are the only person able to take a good picture of me—and you're someone who sees beauty and magic in ALL people and ALL things. Thank you for bringing your inimitable artistic energy to our special weekend in October, and for being generous enough to bring your camera too! I am so beyond grateful for every one of our memories.

Jessica

Bridesmaid

Jessimer—Jess—my oldest friendship! We've been close the longest of all the bridesmaids! Since we shared that ice cream and stayed up all night talking in 5th grade, we've been inseparable. You're the only friend I've lived with, the only friend who was there the night of my very first kiss! All those years ago, riddled with idealism, we never imagined just how IMPOSSIBLE it would prove to be to have real love AND be 100% ourselves. You and your sisters taught me how to wear the right kind of bra; you helped raise me; your family took me in as a third daughter those two weeks when school was closed for that never-ending blizzard in Ohio. Growing up and ever since, you've been pivotal in helping me embrace both my feminine and my true self. And now—at last—I've finally found a man who does that too. Unfathomably, incredibly, I don't have to change a single part of me. He loves me for me. As teenagers on your dock, looking up at the stars, we would dream and dream. Thank you for dreaming with me of what could someday come. Thank you for loving me. You gave me that sense of self so long ago—to know the love I deserved.

Chris

Man of Honor

CBarbs Double Barbs! My brother from another mother! We have been through so much together! From our evolution as Vanderbilt freshmen (what a formative time in both of our lives!), to our many memories together (Beijing Olympics & Seoul 2008! What fun ensued atop The Great Wall! Paris & Blois 2023! Why do castles have so many damn steps?!)—you and I have been through it ALL together. We talked almost *every single day* throughout the entire pandemic, often for hours at a time. We've weathered roiling oceans of tumult and tediousness together, and braved the fascinating (!) world of dating in both NY and the DMV. Through any stage of our lives, you've managed to be that one friend who is SO kooky I can't help but be my most ridiculous self with you. (And somehow you continue to have the illusion that I'M the crazy one.) I love your zany sense of humor, and your countless IG messages never cease to entertain me. Whenever I find something hilarious, you're the first one I'm sending it to. With you, there is zero filter. We can dance in a crowded casino at 2am and feel like the only ones in the room. Thank you for always getting me to seize every single day in a way I never could without your friendship.