Morgan & Elijah
Wedding Party
Emily Snoad
Matron of Honor
Morgan's older sister. Safe to say that she has known me the longest. Family may not be chosen, but I lucked out with such a great sister and chosen best friend. P.S. I gave a speech at her wedding so thought it was only fair to return the favor!
Melissa Sheets
Maid of Honor
Morgan's younger sister. Remember how I said I lucked out with Emily? Well the same is true for Melissa who is the most supportive person you’ll ever meet. She also deserves a resilience award for being dragged to all my sporting events growing up. P.S. She has some practice with wedding speeches, so get ready for a good one!
Emily Winchell
Bridesmaid
Morgan's best friend from Seattle. We originally met in the Dominican Republic, but who knew the real friendship would begin a few months later when we bonded over being stranded with our significant others in a new city (Seattle) after graduating PT school. We now bond over being dog moms to our dogs, Gifford and Ebert.
Alicia Dellazoppa
Bridesmaid
Morgan's direct roommate all 4 years of undergrad at the University of Dayton. We knew if we survived sharing an 8'x13' room (yes, smaller than the size of a parking space) freshman year together in Founder's Hall, we'd be friends forever. She's also the one to thank for bringing Elijah and me together.
Sydney Antolini
Bridesmaid
Morgan's roommate, running buddy, and basically sidekick from undergrad at the University of Dayton. If you found one of us, you were likely to find both of us. She still runs...I cheer her on. JK, she's awesome at convincing me to run races with her. "It'll be fun" she says...and she's always right.
Mary DiCicco
Bridesmaid
Morgan's roommate from undergrad at the University of Dayton. She gives the best advice and is extremely charismatic; it's a wonder she doesn't have back problems after supporting me for all these years. In fact, it's like I am following in her footsteps: I got a dog and will soon have a very lucky husband. Mary, what should I do next?!
Carly Bamford
Bridesmaid
Morgan's roommate and other running buddy from undergrad at the University of Dayton. Also known as 'Crazy Carl', she joined our roommate group two years in, but you'd never know. Probably the bubbliest of my friends and the nicest Bostonian, I couldn't imagine life without my Crazy Carl.
Alyssa Rapelje
Bridesmaid
One of Morgan's best friends from high school. Although we met at a much younger age, going to different elementary and middle schools delayed our close friendship until high school when Alyssa invited me to sit with her at lunch. After innumerable lunches together, multiple sports' seasons, and late-night hangouts around Gahanna and visiting her in Pittsburgh, the rest is history.
Ean Kuska
Best Man
Elijah's younger brother, born 5 years after Elijah, he was originally Elijah's greatest annoyance and adversary but quickly grew to be his best friend. They share their love of movies, food (gotta have that late night Sheetz burger!), potty humor, and raggin on their old man. Elijah wouldn't have it any other way: his brother, his best friend who has always been there, would be his best man. Everyone hold their breath for the speech though. Ean was never known for his public speaking.
Jake Lennon
Groomsman
'Lennon', 'Lemmy', 'Lemon'; a man of many names and one of Elijah's OG besties from middle school. They first met during 7th grade football and would both go on to not play a single minute. The two are known for their rowing, horrendously coordinated outfits, incomprehensible goofing off, and intolerable volume. A most horrifying fact: it is already Dr. Lennon and soon to be Dr. Kuska - two of the biggest doofuses from their highschool friend group went on to achieve the highest degrees. Hey, anything is possible, I suppose.
Colin Ball
Groomsman
Elijah and Colin met several times during college but really hit it off when they shared a room during 5th year. It quickly became apparent that Colin was essentially Elijah if he had been raised in the corn fields of Ohio and vice versa: Elijah is urban Colin. They catch up weekly on life n' beer n' such while playing video games which inherently necessitates a lot of yelling and laughing. Colin is a sweetheart and always checks in on Morgan too. Secretly, I think he is worried she's too good for Elijah. *Narrator "Colin is absolutely right."
Tyler Doerman
Groomsman
Tyler was voted most likely to succeed and thus far it has worked out. Two bachelor's degrees have brought him wealth, prosperity, a lovely wife and child, and of course crossed paths with Elijah. Tyler and Elijah immediately hit it off on their first day at Booz Allen Hamilton. They quickly became known as the office chatterboxes, they talked and laughed daily around the office watering hole. They brought joy to many and dismay to one (we know you reported us for being too loud April. Nice try. You can't stop us!). The friendship built at Booz was strong enough to leave the secure space and continues to this day... Once strangers, now lederhosen-clad best lads.
Taylor Haack
Groomsman
A happy accident. Elijah and Taylor were randomly paired roommates that ended up working out perfectly. Well, perfectly after Elijah realized 'Taylor' wasn't a girl and Taylor realized Elijah wasn't a sociopath without a social media profile. Elijah and Taylor quickly became besties and would spend the following years of college living together or hanging out whenever possible. Attendees beware: these two can be dangerous when paired in closed-door environments, especially when music is involved.
Andrew Dardaris
Groomsman
A man known by a single syllable: Dar. Dar and Elijah became besties during their years spent on the UD crew team. Mutual pain and suffering really build friendship, but the strongest bond was our mutual disdain for Ohio U. O U, O NO! Dar and Elijah rowed through chop, caught crabs, fought mean headwinds, and loved steak nachos. Even now, after college, with their rowing bodies long lost behind their fluffy bellies, they continue to meet up. Whether it be at the Indy 500 or in Colorado, they are just a couple of old men at sea, caught on land, but forever friends.
Jake Morrella
Groomsman
Elijah's first long-term friend. Elijah and 'Momo' met in third grade and their shared affinity for Mountain Dew and video games blossomed into the strongest of friendships. It continued and grew as the two jointly 'rode the pine' for several years of varsity lacrosse and found their shared passion for hockey and trashtalking. The bond even persevered several exploitations of Momo's colorblindness for Elijah's own laughs... Poor Mrs. Pinkerton was so disappointed Momo colored his self-portrait green in 5th grade.
Dan Todd
Groomsman
Dan Todd to some. Dern Terd to many. Friend to all. Dan and Elijah happened to live on the same floor freshman year and quickly became friends to escape their weird roommates. They ended up living together for the next 5 years and were a perfect match like Elijah and basketball. Elijah and Dan were always close and come to think of it, it was probably their joy of friends, good food, good times, and clashing outfits. Now the two besties can often be found adventuring outdoors together: Elijah sunburnt and Dan out of breath.