Rachel & Sam
Wedding Party
Ryann Mallasch
Maid of Honor
Right hand sis. The person who makes Rachel laugh the most. She's seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of me. I'm also very grateful for Ryann and Sam's friendship. Eight months into me and Sam's relationship, Ryann and I were hit with norovirus in Korea along with sixty other kids and leaders. Sam, fearless and immune, took leadership and cared for us, and out of the puke came sister-boyfriend friendship. Ryann is also the person probably most responsible for my career in the entertainment industry, as I dragged her into most of my film projects in middle and high school. She's my best friend until the end, and I'm so thankful my sister is my maid of honor.
Hayden Royster
Best Man
Ahh, The Royster. A man of many talents and legends, among them being: the longest flip-phone holdout at APU, being able to subsist on copious amounts of beans and rice and nothing else, giving out stitches in sides from laughter like Santa on Christmas Eve, and playing some mean spoons-on-da-knee in a jam sesh. A funny story you should ask Sam or Hayden about is how Sam originally started dropping by Hayden and Rachel's RA "on-duty" nights to hang mainly with Hayd, but kept showing up because he was falling fast for Hayden's RA partner. He's the greatest covert wing-man a guy never knew he needed.
Brooke Calhoun
Bridesmaid
Sources say we didn't like each other in Pre-K Sunday school but became best friends in elementary. I have never been to summer camp without Brooke. I've probably spent more weekends at Brooke's than any other friend because we lived a half-hour away from one another. Friday night sleepovers turned into begging for Saturday night sleepovers, so we could go to church together on Sunday. We would daydream together about what our weddings would be like and even crushed on the same boys at youth group.
Christopher Butler Jr.
Groomsman
It ain't often that one of the groomsmen has given literal--not just emotional--scars to the groom, but when it comes to brotherly love, the expressions are truly limitless. Truth is, Sam wouldn't have been able to relate to Harry Potter or his scar the same way if it wasn't for his biggest bro, so he's actually really grateful. A crazy scar story to ask Chris or Sam about is how Christopher literally pushed Sam out a window once. Good times.
Bunk Wilson
Bridesman
Our moms cried together on our first day of preschool, I was four, and Bunk was three. Our childhood consisted of romping around the woods on Bunk’s property, attempting to make lemonade stand money in Rachel's neighborhood, camping around the Northwest with our families, and pretending we were goth Bear Grylls. I am always learning from, and unlearning with, Bunk. Grateful for the twenty-plus years of our friendship and laughing so hard we are gasping for breath.
John Butler
Groomsman
John once got mad at Sam for taking "his" place in a footrace when someone volunteered Sam instead, and if that doesn't tell you about these two's relationship, I dunno what will. However, John is now getting the last laugh by having his life so well put-together (wonderful wife, two beautiful daughters, and many foster kids) that Sam has spent many nights (some even in a pinch!) on John's couch, while the score card for Sam in that field is zero. Thanks for the love bro! Funny story(ies) to ask John or Sam about is how they have shared multiple crushes throughout life; the competition was real.
Ali Welge
Bridesmaid
I love when I am wrong about my first impression of someone. Ali and I met through a leadership program at APU sophomore year. We had to do an ice breaker game with all the people in our group, and when Ali went, I thought to myself, "Crap this girl and I are not going to get along." How wrong was I! By the end of the training program, it felt like we had been best friends for years, and we lived together the second semester of sophomore year and into junior year. Also, the first time I met and hung out with Sam, I came back to our apartment and said, "Ali, I just met your husband!" ...and here we are four years later.
David Butler
Groomsman
David used to fall asleep in his food at the dinner table, and it took all Sam's strength to not go grab the camera (ahh, the days before cellphones). Instead, Sam usually jammed his fork into lil' Davey's leg under the table to keep him awake, and because that's just brotherly love. Sam is eternally grateful that David came along in life to give his older bro all the burdens of responsibility (wait...). A funny story to ask Sam or David about is how David once got hit by a parked car on the perilous streets of San Francisco.
Aubrey McMichael
Bridesmaid
Aubrey and I grew up a bike ride away from one another, and it's still that way now in Pasadena. I think we became friends in the fourth grade through another mutual friend, though our friendship solidified a year later in Mrs. Von Trapp's fifth-grade class. Our friendship is probably the only reason either of us survived the wretched perils of high school. We were each other's homecoming/prom dates, youth group besties, and support system on our soccer team...and really any social activity we had to attend! And now we're cheerleaders for one another in our varying art careers.
Johnathan Tran
Groomsman
Sam first met Johnathan at APU's High Sierra Semester, and he knew the two of them would be fast friends when J-Tran shut down a political question with "Well, I'm an anarchist." Johnathan has a special place in Sam's heart as being his truest and best rock climbing partner, and well, still only real one up to now. J-Tran can be easily found off brewing something: coffee, beer, tea, potions, trouble; so I guess you could say he's pretty much an alchemist. A righteous story to ask Sam or Johnathan about is how they are so into climbing (and each other) that they went and got matching rope tattoos.
Ari Wagoner
Bridesmaid
The person who is perhaps most responsible for Sam and Rachel's relationship. Ari and I met on walkabout for RA senior year at APU, and after sitting next to each other on the seven-hour drive up to Yosemite, we were instantly friends. Our friendship continued as we were on the same RA staff for the freshman hall that Sam and Ari were in their first year. Sam and Ari also shared many classes senior year, so the three of us were basically inseparable that whole year. We are very ready to live near Ari again and get the Three Amigos back together!
Daniel Mackay
Groomsman
D-Mack is so loyal, he'd take the bullet for you, but then come back from the dead since you'd miss him so much. D-Mack can cut a rug so well that he'll be pulling pirouettes while everybody else is trying to pretend they can break-dance. D-Mack is so down for whatever all the time that you could ask him if he wants to fly to Greenland with you tomorrow, and he'd ask "What time?" D-Mack is such a Mack, he's got it in the name. A cool story to ask Sam or Daniel about is how many libertarian/Marxist/(insert revolution here) rants Daniel has been there for from Sam after 2AM.
Caroline Walters
Bridesmaid
We met in the fiery fiasco of post-grad, in a house with 15 other tenants the summer we graduated. We quickly latched together for survival and moved to Pasadena a few months later. Somehow we managed to share a room together and become great friends at the same time, while working through changes of adulthood and struggles of our long-distance relationships. Now, in our own long-distance friendship, we are constantly sending skincare products and suggestions to each other, or freaking out about wedding planning, as we got engaged within five days of one another.
Josiah Bloemberg
Groomsman
You can learn a lot about Josiah by the fact that he's lived in Hanoi most of his life and knows the city (mostly) like the back of his hand, but couldn't for the life of him be bothered to learn a lick of Vietnamese! Jo has a taste for the finer things, kinda like Tom and Donna on #TreatYoSelf Day: tailored suits, fine leather goods, rooftop bars, and jazz clubs. And while he has a general distaste for too much "American-ness", the dude will take you up on a DiGiorno pizza and any given Marvel movie re-watch any day. A funny story to ask Sam or Josiah about is how Sam basically asked Josiah to help him with the engagement plan the night before, classic Butler.
Nathan Pillmore
Groomsman
Nathaniel (not his full name) Pilliamore (don't know where I pulled that one from), the name screams of one whose true spirit dwells as a technocratic overlord from the year 2557, but I like my friend Natey-boy better. This dude is ultimately to blame for this event happening, as it was a fateful invitation to come play badminton with his film buddy Rachel ("She's chill, you'll like her") on a hot August night of junior year that led to Sam and Rach ever being friends in the first place. Nate is at once the dad legend and saucily sarcastic sister Sam never knew he needed. A classic story to ask Sam or Nate about is whether a hot-dog is a sandwich or not, and how they almost got written up for yelling about it at APU.
Bri Askew
Groomswoman
Bri Askew is one of the most well-adjusted people around, which is a great compliment to her character as she grew up as distant from American civilization as possible out in the middle of the jungle of Papua New Guinea. This is why when Sam met her freshman year of APU, he always wondered what was up with her never laughing at his and Hayden's '80's comedy references, but she makes up for it in tree climbing prowess, so it's all good. A great story to ask Bri or Sam about is how they once shared an entire liter bottle of vodka with a caravan of Poles they happened to share a campsite with on Polish Women's Day in Death Valley.