Sandra & Chris
Wedding Party
Sophia Jaffe
Maid of Honor
Sophia aka Jaffe aka Jaff Attack and Sandra have known each other since Freshman year of college. Jaffe & Sandra both moved to New York out of undergrad and their friendship has continued to grow in the...12 (!) years they've known each other. Jaff lived across the hall from Sandra for 4 years, about a block away (0.14 miles according to Google Maps) for a year, and now a grueling 8 minute walk away (11min for Sophia) - but there's no obstacle these two can't overcome! Jaff and Sanj have traveled from Hawaii to Croatia (Belgium, Rome, the Azores etc) together, just don't ask Jaffe to point to those places on a map. They've also been known to crash each other's family vacations on multiple occasions.
Russell Johnson
Best Man
Russell and Chris met in the first few weeks on campus freshman year at MIT and have followed each other as roommates or neighbors from Cambridge to the Back Bay to Allston to Downtown Crossing to the South End to now New York City. They may have almost too much in common: since graduating they have worked the same exact jobs at competing firms for all 8 years (Chris still owes Russell for a lead on a deal), they both are unfortunately avid Jets and Wolves fans, they have the same taste in music and passion for playlist curation, and love to cook together on the weekends.
Jenny Kim
Maid of Honor
After moving to SF straight out of undergrad, Jenny made the natural jump of moving to NYC, the epicenter of the COVID-19 epidemic, in Summer 2020, to work remotely from Sandra's bedroom, which was left mostly vacant due to her brief stint at a hedgefund in Connecticut where she stayed Monday-Friday. Sandra and Jenny quickly became partners in all activities - even activities as mundane as frequently sharing a bed. The grind of closing deals keeps Banker Jenny quite busy Monday through Friday, but a large majority of free time is spent with Sandra enjoying their shared interests of Soccer (go wolves), beach trips (the Montauk vs Jersey Shore argument still hasn't been put to bed), Sunday family dinners, and generally eating and drinking their way through the city.
Paul Orrson
Groomsman
Paul is a rising social media sensation. The creator and co-owner (along with Chris) of @hotdog_guys on Instagram (675 followers and counting) met Chris as freshman year roommates and lacrosse teammates at MIT. Paul was living in NYC and coming up between leases when Chris received a job offer in the city and 6 weeks later they were roommates in the East Village. Paul then earned a promotion that meant moving to Chicago and he left Chris alone in that apartment the early months of a global pandemic, but Chris never brings that up or holds it against Paul. Together they're hotdog connoisseurs, bandmates, Wolves fans, and occasional workout buddies.
Marina Crowe
Bridesmaid
Marina and Sandra met at MIT orientation in fall of 2012 and immediately became best friends. They ended up (sort of) roommates when Sandra crashed in the empty bed in Marina's triple a few nights...4 nights...almost every night of the week freshman year (there seems to be a theme of this group of friends sharing bedrooms). Some of their best memories together include a Europe trip for a month in summer 2021 - a roadtrip through Spain, EURO 2020 Semifinals at Wembley Stadium, laying on the beaches in Portugal...and as fate would have it, Marina recently bought an apartment 3 blocks away from Sandra in the West Village!
Jonah Hessels
Groomsman
Jonah and Chris went from high school lacrosse opponents (QO 4-0 vs Poolesville in their time there but who's keeping track) to teammates and roommates at MIT. After moving in together (along with Paul) they quickly found every way possible to demonstrate that they were from Maryland and played lacrosse by hanging and wearing Maryland flags and decorating their room with lacrosse sticks. Jonah and Chris love going to music festivals together and while also mourning the loss of Avicii, and the fact that we never got to see him live. Of course, Jonah is also a Wolves fan.
Nikki Effenberger
Bridesmaid
Nikki and Sanj went to school together and have become infinitely closer in the years post-college. They have made countless memories together (mainly at music festivals and house music-adjacent events) but have also religiously visited eachother in Salt Lake City & NYC as well as traveled together in Vermont, Switzerland, Italy, and Croatia. Nikki is an avid snowboarder in SLC and has put in many hours trying to help Sandra make it down the slopes in Park City and Mt. Snow (mainly via encouragement after a tumble).
Eric Gan
Groomsman
Chris's first ever interaction with Gan was when he told him he was from Texas and ran a 4.5 second 40 yard dash at the team dinner the first night of freshman year football camp at MIT. The next day, Gan ran his 40 so fast that he flipped over onto his back just past the line and the coach wasn't able to record a time, so I guess we'll just never know how fast he really is. Gan is the ultimate travel companion, he says yes to every trip and is the life of the party whether from Belgium to St. Tropez to Miami.
McCall Huston
Bridesmaid
McCall and Sandra also met Freshman year at MIT and became good friends via their shared interests of getting things done and having fun. Their friendship particularly blossomed over summer 2015, which they spent in Israel working on separate projects at Tel Aviv University. In this case, the term 'working' largely consisted of laying on the beach, surviving for the day off of one (jam packed) $1 falafel, and enjoying the drinking age of 18. Sandra thought about hiring McCall as her wedding planner, even though she has zero background nor interest in the role, just because she knew it would be accomplished perfectly. Lucky for McCall - Sandra hired a professional.
Karson Ota
Groomsman
Karson and Chris also met at the dinner table freshman football preseason, and while he wasn't bragging about his speed, Karson's 6'5" frame and Texas football roots were intimidating to say the least. After a fun 4 years at MIT, Karson and Chris stayed close through annual snowboarding trips in Vermont and Colorado until eventually the gravitation pull of NYC placed Karson a 3 minute walk away in the West Village. Chris has forced Karson into the Wolves fan group and Karson returns the favor by mapping out Saturday morning workouts that leave Chris unable to move by Sunday morning.
Priyanka Shome
Bridesmaid
Freshman year, it was known people could hear Pri & Sandra coming down the stairs of Baker dorm due only to the volume of the laughs they could hear. After meeting in their sorority in 2012, Pri and Sandra committed to the shared dream of living in NYC post-Grad. Fast forward to 2016...they end up both living in New York and in 2018, moving in together (and across the hall from Jaffe) for three years. Although their circadian rhythms are off by a good six hours, together they enjoy exploring the hidden gems of New York, attempting artistic projects (successfully for Pri, unsuccessfully for Sandra), going to concerts, and generally enjoying all that the best city in the world has to offer.
Tim Higgins
Groomsman
Tim and Chris's friendship went to a new level during the summer of 2015 when they lived together (along with Paul, Justin and Joe) in a 1 bedroom flex one block away from the Port Authority in Manhattan. They saved money living in the city by cooking pasta with alfredo sauce and substituting proteins shakes for meat. Tim is the lead guitar in their band Yo Guys (with Paul on the vocals and keys) and the 3 of them can be found playing covers and writing new songs at Rivington Music Studios in the LES a couple of times a month. On Sundays, Chris contributes 1-2 answers over Tim's shoulder while he and Russell smash the NYT Crossword.
Julia Heyman
Officiant
Jules is an extremely close friend to both Chris and Sandra. In fact, Jules was a driving force of their relationship beginning when, in the fall of senior year, they were a team of three in 'Motion Theatre' class together. Jules has never shone more than as a self-proclaimed third wheel, leading their final 'presentation' to be largely about the couple falling in love. Aside from that, Jules and Chris spent a few years living in Boston post-grad, missing trains back to Boston together after having too much fun during weekend visits to New York. She now lives in New York, where in addition to the usual eating/drinking activities, Jules and Sandra both enjoy long walks on the Westside highway and cooking new recipes. We are all excited to hear what this officiant has to say on 6/21/25!