Dakotah & Andrew
Wedding Party
Colin Bennett
Best Man
Andrew and Colin met at West Point through a mutual roommate Daniel “Jungle Dan” Richardson (whereabouts unknown). Andrew would stop by Colin and Dan’s room to avoid his homework, and since Andrew and Colin would both be posted to Fort Knox, they decided to keep in touch. Colin and Andrew quickly bonded over their mutual love of history, the tv show Arrested Development, and the high strangeness of Army life. Most of their communication resembles a Large Language Model trained on the works of Tobias Funke, Steve Brule, and Alfred Thayer Mahan spoken in the style of the Last Words of Dutch Schultz (if this makes any sense to you, seek medical attention). Colin is Andrew’s closest confidant, a loving father, and even better friend.
Mindy Milburn
Maid of Honor
Dakotah and Mindy met when Dakotah started working for Millennial Health Care Services. They’ve grown closer as they’ve worked together, coordinating on events and activities for the assisted living residents. Mindy is a great party planner; Dakotah loves her creativity when putting together grazing tables and floral centerpieces. They enjoy long phone conversations in the car as they criss-cross the state traveling for work. Coworkers say they could be sisters, and Dakotah values that family-like bond she has with Mindy. Dakotah couldn’t think of a better friend or person to stand up with her on the day of her wedding.
Luke Uhrig
Groomsman
Andrew and Luke met in Mrs. Minton’s class for precocious nerds as 2nd Graders. For the next eight years they were virtually inseparable in every class, extra curricular, and social event, including by not limited to: Boy Scouts, Academic Team (exactly what it sounds like), Cross Country, parties with no girls, Track and Field, parties with girls that they didn’t talk to, Radio, Speech and Debate Club, all AP classes, all non-AP Classes, and appreciation for the mid 2000s MIMS classic, “This Is Why I’m Hot”. When they left for college, Luke kept Andrew in the loop with their high school friend group, and was his lifeline to the real world outside of the grey rock on the Hudson. Andrew was a groomsman in Luke’s wedding, and Andrew and Dakotah are so happy to have him and his lovely wife Michelle supporting us on our big day.
Morgann Racine
Bridesmaid
Morgann is more a sister to Dakotah than a niece (smiece?), and one of her best friends. One of Dakotah's earliest and fondest memories with Morgann is when they would play “Pioneer” on Appleton Lane in Louisville (they had a green Fisher Price cart as their Conestoga Wagon and would wear makeshift bonnets, it was a whole thing). Like many early American expeditions it would devolve into recriminations and infighting (they would chuck apples at each other). Andrew has gotten to know Morgann over a shared love of gaming and through her role as Dungeon Master of the family Dungeon and Dragons games. Dakotah is so proud to have her by her side on the day of the wedding.
Aaron Specht
Groomsman
Andrew and Aaron met in elementary school, the same time and place he met Luke. They formed a sort of Fellowship of the Ring dynamic: Aragorn (Luke; tall, brunette, valedictorian), Legolas (Aaron: tall, blonde(ish) (in the before times), most athletic), and Gimli (Andrew; short, hirsute, comic relief). Andrew spent most of elementary and middle school as the fifth Specht child, biking to Aaron’s house on weekends to spend hours playing video games back when the pixels were as wide as your thumb and going on the internet required use of the family phone line and a wizard’s incantation. Aaron has been a wonderful friend to Andrew since they were little kids, and we are so happy he is a part of our wedding party.
Elizabeth Borer
Bridesmaid
Liz and Dakotah work together currently, but first met two companies ago trying to stabilize long term care facilities during the pandemic. They decided they would become friends instead of losing their minds (or maybe both) during this high stress environment, and blew off steam playing “Heads Up” in the hotel lobby with coworkers. Dakotah values Liz’s empathy, love of humanity, and calls for social justice, the most compassionate person Dakotah knows. We are so happy to have her light and love with us on our most important day!
Ezra Policicchio
Groomsman
The youngest of the groomsmen, Ezra is Dakotah’s nephew, who she met at birth (yikes). Dakotah has known Ezra his whole life, a contributing factor when at five years old Ezra stood on his chair at breakfast, glared at Dakotah, chucked a breakfast pastry at Dakotah’s eye, and screamed “Ninja Waffle”. The relationship has thankfully improved since then. Andrew has gotten to know Ezra over conversations about weightlifting and games of Dungeons and Dragons that Ezra helps organize (Ezra is a Paladin of Ilmater, roll for crit). For Dakotah, her wedding day wouldn’t be complete without her loving family present, and Ezra is one of her favorite people.
Ayelen Policicchio
Bridesmaid
The youngest of bridesmaids, Ayelen (pronounced Ash-Uh-Len) is Dakotah’s niece, also met at birth (more yikes). There is a picture of young Ash and Dakotah sticking their tongues out at each other, a good natured antagonism that has only increased with time. Dakotah styles herself the “cool aunt,” an epithet Ash describes as “cap” (no idea what this means). Despite this, both bonded over their love of pugs, (family gatherings feature a half dozen scurrying around the kitchen picking up scraps like miniature Bumpus Hounds from “A Christmas Story” a very topical reference to a 50 year old movie that Ash has definitely seen). For Dakotah, her wedding day wouldn’t be complete without her loving family present, and Ash is one of her (other) favorite people.
Andy Beaudry
Groomsman
Andrew and Andy and Andy and Andrew (Doctor! Doctor?) met at Fort Knox and deployed together as part of Security Force Assistance Team 40 (Donnybrook). They weren’t even the only Andrew’s on their team of just a dozen people! They got to know each other over games of volleyball played nightly under the flood lights on FOB Apache. They share interests over movies, gaming, golf, and spotting and photographing the most criminally insane bumper stickers they see in the Coeur d’Alene and Melbourne metro areas. Andy is someone always willing to listen and we are so excited he’s sharing this wedding weekend with us.
Keri Palmer
Bridesmaid
Dakotah and Keri met at Brigham Young University-Idaho their first semester as roommates. They got to know each other over late night talks about the deep topics: philosophy, mathematics (definitely Keri’s but not Dakotah’s strong suit), their future lives, and various dorm room weirdos. They would go to bonfires and play pranks (not at the same time, this was not “The Wicker Man”). Keri is such an amazing person who is one of the smartest people Dakotah knows (Dakotah would again like to emphasize what a math wiz she is) gives great advice; we are so happy you are sharing this day with us.
Ian Smith
Groomsman
Andrew and Ian met when Andrew moved south to go north from Alabama to Florida. They both worked at Northrop Grumman on the same team until Ian decided he needed to “get his MBA” and “move to DC” and “become a financial analyst” (show off). Fun Fact: the David Guetta Remix, “Looking For a Man in Finance” was written about Ian. Dakotah got to meet Ian while he and Andrew made inane jokes over Discord while playing “Among Us” during the pandemic; her response, “All your friends look and sound like Senators”. Ian and Andrew share a similar outlook on life and we are so glad he’s able to join us back in sunny (fingers crossed) Florida for our big day.