Wedding Party
Reileigh
Bride
Reileigh met Dexter in a college party basement, where she was smitten by his crazy awesome dance moves and camo hoodie (which she almost didn't give back). She continues to envy his prowess on the dance floor and taste for style.
Dexter
Groom
Dexter met Reileigh in psych stats class, where he was confused why she kept staring at him and awkwardly dropping her pen in an area where it would only make sense if he picked it up for her. He was immediately crushin' but intimidated when he saw her cool boots. Dexter has continued to be intimidated by Reileigh's great style (& cool boots).
Sarah
Member of Dexter's Wedding Party
Relation to the Groom: Sister When did they meet: 8/8/97 (Dexter's birthday, probably) Fun Fact: Sarah and Dexter used to ride horses together competitively. They did a 3-legged race together (w/ horses... how? ask them) because they were the most similar in height and the fastest on their team #twins. They competed in multiple national competitions and at least placed 2nd while on the same team!
Cade
Member of Reileigh’s Wedding Party
Relation to the Bride: Brother When did they meet: 1/13/99 (Cade’s birthday) Fun Fact: Reileigh used to dress Cade up in her dress-up clothes and put makeup on him (he stopped allowing this when he turned 5? 6?). He refuses to wear makeup to this day and blames her (his girlfriend is really upset about this as she would like to see what Cade looks like with a full face, and truly, he would slay).
Hannah
Member of Dexter's Wedding Party
Relation to the Groom: Sister When did they meet: 5/3/02 (Hannah's birthday) Fun Fact: Hannah would not stay in her room at night as a child and so their parents flipped the lock to the outside of the door so they could lock her in her room at night. One day Sarah and Dexter were babysitting Hannah. She told them she had something to show them, sat them down on her bed, and then left the room to go get it. What they soon figured out was that as she closed the door behind her she locked it and them in it. They had to wait 45min for their mom to get home to let them out.
Sammie
Member of Reileigh’s Wedding Party
Relation to the Bride: Friend/fellow Ghost Island member When did they meet: Kindergarten (2002) Fun Fact: Sammie is the glue that held Reileigh’s childhood friends together. Her home was Reileigh’s second home, her mom was Reileigh’s second mom, you get the idea. Within their club, Ghost Island, Sammie not only was her alter ego Boo but also Miss Spooky that made the best lemonade!
Abby
Member of Reileigh’s Wedding Party
Relation to the Bride: Friend/fellow Ghost Island member When did they meet: 2nd grade (2004) Fun Fact: Abby & Reileigh choreographed an entire routine to “Hey Mickey” for the 7th grade skit (a skit where the 7th graders lovingly? made fun of the 8th graders) that involved a cardboard cut out of Edward Cullen. If you ask maybe they can still remember some of the moves?
Ronneigh
Member of Reileigh’s Wedding Party
Relation to the Bride: Sister When did they meet: 12/3/05 (Ronneigh’s birthday) Fun Fact: Reileigh created a Toddler’s & Tiara’s pageant at home for her sisters. As Ronn was the older of the two younger sisters she had more of a hand in helping plan the show & was so excited! Ronn’s talent was singing Baby by Justin Bieber and when she was crowned Grand Supreme (don’t worry Rub got a crown too), she actually cried she was so happy & excited.
Alex
Member of Reileigh’s Wedding Party
Relation to the Bride: Friend/fellow Ghost Island member When did they meet: At Sammie’s house in 4th/5th grade (2006) Fun Fact: When Reileigh was a senior in high school she went to visit Alex at ISU around St Patrick’s day and had green beer, out of a keg, in a college apartment for the first time. They had a BLAST that night!!
Rubeigh
Member of Reileigh’s Wedding Party
Relation to the Bride: Sister When did they meet: 3/18/08 (Rubeigh's birthday) Fun Fact: Rubeigh has been a cheerleader her whole life. When Reileigh was a cheerleader in high school they would practice stunts (specifically one mans) in the front yard as often as possible. By the time she was cheering in high school she had already heard Reileigh tell her to “pinch her penny” over 100 times.
Kendal
Member of Dexter's Wedding Party
Relation to the Groom: Brother When did they meet: August 9, 2009 Fun Fact: While Kendal is a 3-sport athlete, it remains debatable whether Kendal or Dexter is more athletic. However, it must be said that Dexter has never lost a NCAA 25 game to Kendal. *cough*Dexter has not won a game of 1:1 basketball to Kendal since Kendal was 10? *cough*
Ramseigh
Member of Reileigh's Wedding Party
Relation to the Bride: Sister When did they meet: 12/15/10 (Ramseigh's birthday) Fun Fact: When Reileigh first moved to Texas, Ramseigh & her would play It Takes Two online. As you may know, Rams is a very talented gamer. As you also may know, Reileigh is not. When you are playing a two person video game having one person be significantly challenged on the Xbox controller makes it difficult. However, instead of yelling at Reileigh or becoming frustrated Rams would laugh and patiently explain to her 15 year older sister what she needed to do.
Sydny
Member of Reileigh’s Wedding Party
Relation to the Bride: Friend When did they meet: Freshman year of high school at Sammie's (2011) Fun Fact: Sydny went to one of Reileigh’s appointments to try on wedding dresses and urged her to try on a dress she wasn’t entirely certain of. It ended up being the dress Reileigh will wear on her wedding day!
Taylor
Member of Reileigh’s Wedding Party
Relation to the Bride: Friend When did they meet: junior or senior year of high school at Sammie's house (2014) Fun Fact: Reileigh asked Taylor to her Senior prom and Taylor asked Reileigh to his senior prom. Taylor was cute and had clues and string lights in his driveway that said PROM? Reileigh was whacky and made it a Bronies joke and had a sign that said "Will you Rainbow Dash to prom with me?" and got them matching Bronies shirts!!
Peyton
Member of Reileigh’s Wedding Party
Relation to the Bride: Friend When did they meet: Freshman year of college when they lived across the hall from each other (2015) Fun Fact: In college Peyton broke her foot? (the details are fuzzy), but it was bucket head and they HAD to go out. So Peyton & Reileigh (in no more than flannels & tshirts) trudged through the snow across campus to make it to a pregame. Was it worth it? I think they’d say yes (however I don’t know if you could pay them to do that now).
Matt
Officiant/Member of Dexter's Wedding Party
Relation to the Groom: Friend When did they meet: March 2016 Fun Fact: Matt moved Dexter & Reileigh across the country, back to Chicago. Not only did he load the moving truck shirtless and was the reason Dexter did not lose his mind while loading the truck, but him & Dexter also drove for almost the entire drive (while Reileigh was passenger princess). Matt’s biggest qualm with this process was the fact that Reileigh put books in literally every box and he will continue to bring it up at least once each time he is in their presence. Matt continues to threaten Dexter that he will move in the dead of winter so that he has to help unload boxes in the snow.
Luis
Member of Dexter's Wedding Party
Relation to the Groom: Friend When did they meet: March 2016 Fun Fact: Luis has been trying to get Dexter to buy a PS5 for 2 years. Everytime he tells him to Dexter responds "I think I'm going to buy it next month" and every month he does not buy it. Luis just wants to play more games with his friends but instead, all he gets are pokemon memes from Dexter.
Collin
Member of Dexter's Wedding Party
Relation to the Groom: Friend When did they meet: March 2016 Fun Fact: Colin and Dexter once got kicked off a golf course because they tried to continue playing during a thunderstorm. While they did enjoy getting caught in the rain, no pina coladas were consumed
Anthony
Member of Dexter's Wedding Party
Relation to the Groom: Friend When did they meet: March 2016 Fun Fact: Anthony role plays as a caked-up dwarf with ghost-possessed butt cheeks, who is also Dexter's dutiful intern in their D&D campaign. He will quite literally do anything or believe anything Dexter says about his company Windmills, LLC... unpaid of course.
Nate
Member of Dexter's Wedding Party
Relation to the Groom: Friend When did they meet: March 2016 Fun Fact: When Dexter and Nate were in college, they snuck through campus in the wee hours of the morning and procured a prized possession within the Augustana community, a bronze squirrel. How this fell into their lap, only they know. It now sits proudly in Nate & Kate's home.
John
Member of Dexter's Wedding Party
Relation to the Groom: Friend When did they meet: January 2017 Fun Fact: Right before everything shut down for COVID, Dexter was visiting John at Augie. They went to the local bar & grill for lunch and were told that the entire menu was half off as they were unsure when they would re-open. Their natural response was, "Is there a limit to how much we can buy?" No. "How many wings do you have?" 100. They proceeded to buy the wings and bring them back to the crew for movie night. In an unfortunate ending, only Dexter and John ate the wings... as the lore goes they consumed all 100 of them.
Noah
Member of Dexter's Wedding Party
Relation to the Groom: Friend When did they meet: 2017 Fun Fact: Whenever the Kankakee friend group gets together, Noah and Dexter tend to go on side quests such as getting fruit from Jewel or a beer run to a local mercado (as you can tell, they get pretty crazy). Noah is also Dexter's go-to friend for fashion advice, see above picture for reference.
Itzy
Member of Reileigh’s Wedding Party
Relation to the Bride: Friend/SLP mentor & partner When did they meet: April 2022, when Itzy interviewed Reileigh for her first H&N cancer SLP job Fun Fact: One month? into Reileigh beginning to work with Itzy, they drove to Houston together for a CEU opportunity & dinner, stayed in a hotel together, and immediately bonded as friends. On the drive home they talked about how it is a balance to have friends that you meet at work, cause what if you get sick of each other? They agreed to always be open if they needed a break from each other (spoiler they never did). And from that point on they began finishing each other’s sentences, speaking telepathically, and lived happily ever after (until Reileigh moved to Chicago).
Natalie
Member of Reileigh’s Wedding Party
Relation to the Bride: Friend When did they meet: May 2022 when Reileigh started her job at the infamous Ascension Seton Northwest Hospital Fun Fact: Nat & Reileigh had a movie day and during this day Reileigh suggested they take a walk. As they started the walk, Nat asked Reileigh if she wanted to see how fast she could run. Reileigh said sure to humor her. Nat began to sprint and immediately hurt some muscle in her leg (Natalie would know she’s a PT but I don’t remember those terms). Nat then stated she was ok and could continue walking. After she was limping for a minute, Reileigh insisted they turn back (they had only gone less than a block since leaving the house). It is important to note that this was less than 2 years ago.
Jems
Member of Reileigh’s Wedding Party
Relation to the Bride: Friend When did they meet: October 2022, at The Little Gay Book Club, before it was revamped and iconic Fun Fact: Reileigh & Jems had made eye contact at several book club meetings. They both knew when they listened to each other speak during book club & just had general ~vibes~ that they were meant to be in each other’s lives. Reileigh was nervous to ask Jems for their number to be friends but thankfully when they were talking one day after book club Jems asked her. When she got in the car Reileigh called Dexter and told him how excited she was to make a new friend & had good feelings about Jems being in her life for awhile.