Sanaa & Dima
Wedding Guard
Rich Bereck
Captain of the Bridesguard
Rich and I met while we were both working in the music department of Barnes and Nobles in the Palisades Mall in suburban New York. I was 17 and Rich was not. He's looked out for me my whole life, introduced me to renfaire and the world of adult nerd camaraderie, but most importantly he's been my surrogate family, my rock through good times and bad, and the place I go home to for Christmas. I stood next to him at his wedding and I'm excited to have him next to me for mine.
Del Bohner
Captain of the Groomsguard
Del and I met in college when they went for a late-night jog at UC Davis. We ended up rooming together for three years and spent hundreds of hours discussing and debating philosophy, morality, relationships, and workout routines. Del has an amazing sense of humor and always puts me at ease. I owe a lot of his early intellectual development to Del and love him like a brother.
Tanya Kostochka
Bridesguard
Tanya and I met in Kyoto while we were studying abroad during college and ever since she's been my personal role model of being rad. She's a real life philosopher, can Noh chant and read philosophical texts in Japanese and is one of the talents behind the Daily Nous Philosophy Comics (and our Save the Date art!). She's my first call when anything happens, good or bad, and the best friend anyone could ask for. And I know the picture is blurry...but I just love it so much.
Andrey Kolesnikov
Groomsguard
I've known this guy for a LONG time. When he was first brought home in a blanket (1989), I marched around his crib singing songs and eventually inquired to our mom "is he alive?" Thankfully, he was. We were allies in the great kid-parent wars of the 90s. We understand each other in ways other people can't: we share a memeplex of experiences that we can endlessly reference and laugh at. And we've gotten only closer as we've both matured and gotten older. I'm honored to have Andrey in my Groomsguard!
Leslie Bereck
Bridesguard
Leslie is my surrogate momma and an enduring source of wisdom and support I've relied on for years. She's why I have read Ask A Manager every day even after I got a job and Offbeat Bride every day even years before I was engaged. I hang a Christmas stocking that she stitched my name onto in her home year after year, and is my ultimate role model of cute-as-a-button nerdy getshitdone badassery. She is also the secret identity of Bubbles the Rose Fairy at New York Renfaire, but you didn't hear that from me...
Kevin Powers
Groomsguard
Kevin and I met in college, roomed together for 3 years, and kept in touch over the years since then. Kevin and I connected over a mutual admiration of Star Wars, nerd stuff in general, the aesthetics of militarism, and soft-hearted Disney goofiness. He's a dad now, and if his pictures on FB are anything to go by, he'll be my role model for what kind of father to be.
Kevin Craven
Bridesguard
Kevin is that friend I keep planning to talk to more and finding myself having not talked to for years, and yet we always pick up like no time has passed. I met him while studying abroad in Kyoto my junior year of college and I was immediately blown away by how insightful he was and he's put that to good use by going into philosophy. My memories with Kevin are generally epic, like drinking conbini beer near bodies of water or dramatically lit castles in the middle of the night or destroying evidence of Airbnb futon disasters, always amidst great conversation. My life doesn't have enough Kevin.
Mirka Gershenson
Groomsguard
Mirka and I met in 2011, and became close friends after sharing some intense - both amazing and difficult - experiences together. Since then, we have been each other's confidants about deeply personal issues. Mirka is fiercely loyal, works her ass off no matter how much effort it takes, and never lets the situation get her down. Even when we're super busy, the closeness of our friendship never wavers.
Justin Smith
Groomsguard
Justin is a brilliant scientist who worked side by side with me during my PhD at Stanford. Throughout this trying period, we confided in each other - both in terms of our ideas and our inner lives. I have no doubt that he'll invent something amazing some day, and I'm grateful to have had such a good friend in the trenches. Justin's dog Ruby is a treasure.
Jane Kotlyar
Groomsguard
I recently had a chance to figure out just how Jane and I are related, but that's immaterial. She's the ultimate badass, managing to live a richer and fuller life than a dozen normal people combined. She travels the world, speaks four languages, mentors a kid in New York, all the while working full-time and performing in dramatic arts and choir. But throughout her worldwind of a lifestyle, she never forgets that the most important thing is relationships, and I'm supremely happy to have her in my life.
Patrick LaVictoire
Bridesguard
The only thing that makes me question if Patrick is the most delightful person on earth is the steep competition from his wife, Anisha. He has the distinction of being the only member of the Bridesguard who lives anywhere near me (and Berkeley is still a trek) and the person I met most recently, and he exemplifies all the reasons I chose to make my life here in the SF Bay. He's intelligent, compassionate, fascinating and a champion of puns. He makes me like myself and he makes everyone like him. If the only thing I got out of moving here was getting to know him better, it will have been worth it.
Kyle Dennis
Groomsguard
Kyle and I connected when we started chatting about Hardcore History at a pool party. Since then, I've had the pleasure of exploring a variety of topics and activities with him - politics, authoritarianism, morality, self-image; movies, RenFaire, and themed parties. He takes care of his fluffy little bandit Starling, and he's one of the kindest people I know.
Alia Lehmkuhl
Bridesguard
A few years ago I realized very suddenly that without knowing it I've been trying to catch up with my incredibly glamorous cousin Alia for most of my adult life, which I find consists of being struck suddenly by a series of memories of something she said that I didn't understand at the time but I had come to on my own in the intervening years. That's why our relationship now consists of drinking cocktails in NYC speakeasies and trading snark.
Areeb Hafeez
Bridesguard
Areeb and I were born within two months of each other so I owe him a lifelong debt for rescuing me from being the youngest cousin (and at first the weird cousin, but then he grew up all charming and athletic and cool and I started going to anime conventions). We grew up playing the floor is lava together which eventually evolved into Rollercoaster Tycoon and skipping tours of NASA to play all of Super Mario World for Super Nintendo in one sitting (in like 2004). Areeb was my first best friend and he's still the life of the party.