Wedding Party
Marcus Schimdt
Man of Honor
Meet the bride's brother! Well, not literally, but given a friendship of over a decade lasted over multiple moves, he's practically family. Marcus and Ria meet in 9th grade in Madrid, Spain where they were both living for their moms' jobs. Marcus had to move away, but they kept in touch during high school, going to summer camps together and visiting often. Marcus and Ria both went to UVA together where they were both deeply involved in club theater. Both studied abroad together on Semester at Sea. Now, Marcus and Ria are lucky enough to live near each other and spend time together often.
Colin Price
Best Man
Colin and Nic were grouped together in their very first semester at UVA in a much-dreaded required engineering class on how technology interacts with society. After they got out of that class, they didn't meet again until second-year when they were grouped again for a practical skills class in biomedical engineering. They shared more and more classes into third and fourth year as they both engaged with more computer science classes. The capstone of their cooperation was working together on their senior project. After having worked together for almost a full year before it started, collaborating was a natural choice for the two. During this time they enjoyed listening to Kanye Monday and Wednesday mornings and Post Malone in those same evenings.
Sylvia Monet
Bridesmaid
Ria and Sylvia have been good friends since the first day of 7th grade. Two new kids meet in the lunch room and have been friends ever since. Ria and Sylvia got in to lots of shenanigans (that none of you are privy too). When Ria moved to Spain, the friendship became long-distance, but that never stopped them from picking up right back where they left off like they had never been apart. Ria and Sylvia saw each other every time they could in high school and in college. Now that Ria and Sylvia live on the same coast, they have gotten to see a lot more of each other! Ria helped Sylvia pick her first apartment in New York, visited museums, and eaten a LOT of delicious food.
Dan Foulds
Groomsman
Dan and Nic met after Dan overheard Nic planning his first D&D session in the lounge of their dorm at UVA. They have since shared many D&D games, stories, characters, arguments, critical successes and critical failures. Their mutual love of board games kept them together through their third year at UVA, when Nic joined Dan's campaign. They share a larger friend group that has persisted even after Nic and Dan graduated from school. Nowadays, they play pirate-based video games together, discuss cooking techniques and cast iron care, and try to get their other friend David to actually come hang out with them.
Samantha Spytek
Bridesmaid
Samantha and Ria go back all the way to the 7th grade. They were in many of the same classes at their middle school and spent a lot of time together. When Ria moved to Spain, they made time to see each other as often as they could and Samantha even came to visit Ria after they both graduated high school! During college, they were close enough to visit often and spend lots of time together when back home in the Arlington area. They continued a many-years old tradition of going to the Renaissance fair, watching movies together and eating lots of delicious food. They still live close by and are still getting up to hijinks.
Tommy Lam
Groomsman
Tommy and Nic met when Nic would come hang out with Tommy's friends and do Physics homework until the wee hours of the morning. Tommy would then be gracious enough to give Nic a ride home on those cold fall nights. Eventually, the two moved in together with Nick Van Dyke. Tommy and Nic became closer over the dining room table, where they exchanged classic American dishes like Fried Chicken and Waffles for traditional Chinese cuisine like Dumplings and Ramen. Occasionally they would work together on a dish unfamiliar to both of them such as Indian Butter Chicken. Tommy was always happy to lend a tasting opinion on whatever Nic was making this week, but mostly, Tommy just liked free food.
Jessica Utz
Bridesmaid
Once roommates, forever roommates! Jessica currently lives with Ria and Nic in Arlington. Jessica and Ria met doing, what else, college theater. They fell in to friendship and their friendship grew strong and fast. They shared a love of costuming and ended up working together for the UVA Theater Department's Costume Shop for two years. Ria and Jessica lived together during Ria's fourth year at UVA and they made a lot of memories in Rogers. Jessica was the first person Ria told about her date with Nic. Ria and Jessica stayed close (Ria attending Jessica's UVA graduation one year after her own) and then they moved in together as roommates.
Jamie Burkes
Groomsman
Jamie and Nic met through Colin. Jamie and Colin were very close their first and second years, and the three of them formed the lentis of biomedical students taking computer science courses at UVA. Thus, they naturally spent more time together problem solving and discussing their school work. Jamie enjoyed coming over with Colin to dinner at Nic's where they would dine on the bounty of Nic's creativity and culinary genius. Due to their friendship, the three of them would often sit and work together on their senior projects, at the very least to be in familiar company and listen to chill-hop radio to study/relax to, and at best bounce major creative ideas around to bolster their projects.
Clara Aranguren
Bridesmaid
Ria and Clara met day one of 9th grade. Ria was a new student and Clara was there to help her get adjusted to a whole new school. They became close friends and fellow nerds, spending classes, lunches and many days after school together. These two nerds even Clara even competed in Paris at an international quiz bowl tournament... and won first place! They shared their love of baking, but most importantly, they share a love of travel. Ria and Clara, along with their friend Sara, travelled around Europe for 12 days after they all graduated high school. Ria and Clara were lucky enough to go to college relatively close by and they were able to visit almost every semester of college. Most recently, Ria joined Clara on a trip in Chile and Peru and they had a blast!
Nick Van Dyke
Groomsman
Nick and Nic met their second year at UVA grinding Physics problems at Nick's dorm at Lambeth. The two enjoyed singing Hamilton in their dazed states. After second year, they moved in together with Tommy. Nick, like Nic, tended towards computer science classes in his twilight years at UVA and the two could often be found on Nick's couch in their living room discussing the finer details of x86 assembly and graph searching algorithms. Nick and Nic both enjoyed eating Nic's cooking and Nick would reciprocate by doing Nic and Nick's dishes after they were done. Nick moved out their third year, but Nick's couch did not, much to Nic's satisfaction. Nic and Nick also enjoyed hiking the Shenandoah, and managed to share a few hikes in the scenic fall before they graduated.