Brooke & Christopher
Wedding Party
Chrystal Summers
Maid of Honor
Chrystal, my "sister from another mister" currently resides in Maui, Hawaii, and I am so grateful that she is bringing that Aloha here! We go back over 20 years and have danced all over the world together. We don't get to see each other often, but stay very connected. If you ever go to Maui, she can help you with the best things to do. My grandfather on my mother's side was born and raised in Hawaii. When I go to visit her, it feels like home for many reasons. Fun Fact: Do you know that only the male whales sing? One of Chrystal's favorite things to do is free dive, especially during whale season. If you dive off shore and swim down at least 10 feet, you can hear the males sing, and it is spectacular!
Chris Lovelace
Best Man
Chris and I go back to elementary school. We played in middle school band together and then had a super teen angsty punk rock band called 'The Bends' in high school. Chris is an amazing musician and visual artist. We were roommates our early 20’s in Winchester and explored a lot of music and consciousness together. While my path led me to Nashville, his led him to family and he has four beautiful children and married his high school sweetheart, Lindsay. With a capacity for having a calm demeanor in intense situations he serves the community as a paramedic. Chris is solid as a rock and one of the most humble, inspiring, perceptive, and hilarious people I’ve ever met. He’s seen me at my best and worst and through the years he’s the bro that I feel knows and understands me the best.
Leigh Carlson
Bridesmaid
Leigh is my sister-in-law and resides in Roswell, Georgia. We once lived in a "Real World" style house with several roommates and it was quite a wild time. She and my brother, Bryce, fell in love and I was one of her bridesmaids nearly 18 years ago when she bravely said "I do" to him. Together they have four awesome children and two will be in the wedding; Piper, a flower girl and Patrick the ring bearer. She currently runs a family business with her awesome mom, Barbara Andersen, and I swear Leigh goes to more music events than anyone else I know. I am proud to call this super strong woman my sister! Fun Facts: Leigh is a grammar fanatic (how did I do, Leigh?), also has a sister named Brooke, and is known by a few intimate friends as Leigh "Two Canes" Carlson (yep, she's a bad ass)
J.R. Culp
Groomsman
J.R. and I got to know each other playing baseball 25 years ago. We were proud to have had the two highest batting averages on our team, and maybe even in our entire local little league. We were both around .850! That number came into play many years later when J.R. and I started making hip-hop records together as that was the name of the label he started. He is a world-class freestyle rapper and a very intense and prolific songwriter. He helped me find some footing in that world which I was very interested in, but did not grow up in, and that has always meant a lot to me. From conspiracy theories to long brotherly talks about life and love, we’ve always had each others backs.
Laurel Davis
Bridesmaid
I met Laurel in yoga class when our babies were a little over a year old (now almost 15)! We quickly learned that our kids were born just four days apart and instantly connected. Our friendship allowed us both to work while one of us took care of the children without sending them to daycare or having to pay for childcare. Gryphon and Ruby became best friends and were in the same class together for many years. Laurel taught me that TODAY is the best day ever, because it is the only one that is real! We are not blood related, but definitely family. Fun Fact: Laurel has a bleeding heart for animals. Her first job was at Camp Minnewonka in Michican where she adopted a one eared cat. This lead to a serious misfit pet adoption addiction. Currently she ONLY has three dogs and one cat!
Adam Olmstead
Groomsman
I met Adam Olmstead my first year in Nashville at the Station Inn. He was writing sometimes half a dozen great traditional songs a day on music row and that inspired me to give it a try. My first couple of songs were very much in the style he had already mastered. He taught me a lot about how important cultivating community is in a musical and spiritual way. The "people are more important than the music" lesson, is one he really teaches by example. We’ve made a lot of music together through the years. Adam has a very strong and magnetic connection with the Holy Spirit and writes and sings a lot of my favorite music. He lives up in New Brunswick, Canada and has a beautiful camp on the St. Croix river not far from the town where he teaches music.
Susan Shafer
Bridesmaid
I was Susie's first yoga teacher many moons ago. The practice resulted in immediate and profound benefits for her and she quickly knew she wanted to share it with others too. Susie has been an amazing yoga teacher for several years now. Quite some time ago, Susu was in residential transition and I had a spare bedroom, so I offered her a place to stay. A "6 month maximim" situation ended up turning into four and a half years. She was the best roommate ever! Susie and Gryphon also became very close, and had a "date night" almost every Wednesday evening. She recently quit her job in the schools of Charlotte as a counselor to follow her heart and move back up north to create her own happily ever after. Fun Fact: This vegetarian will regretfully, on very rare occasion, eat bacon pizza!
Tommy Oliverio
Groomsman
My path in life introduced Tommy Oliverio more than ten years ago in Nashville at IBMA. Tommy was playing mandolin in the great bluegrass-rock-hippy band, Bawn, in the Mash in Paducah, Kentucky. It wasn’t too long after that meeting that Nashville excused me for the first time and I took refuge living with Tommy at the band headquarters near Paducah. We had an epic summer riding the crest of psychedelic bluegrass/rock’n’roll dreams and collaborated on a lot of exploratory mandolin music. He’s became my best friend in Nashville after he moved there a few years later. Tommy is one of the people in the world who really make me laugh, great perception and comedic timing. He is also an excellent songwriter and overall good fellow.
Nalicia Allio
Bridesmaid
Nalicia is very special to me. We have only known each other for a little over four years, but we go back lifetimes....all the way to Mesopotamia! Our connection is one of those that began instantly with a profound sense of familiarity and has grown over the years. She reminds me of my mom! Nalicia was in my first yoga teacher training program graduating in May 2016. She and I co-managed Okra until she moved to Highlands, North Carolina for her husband's job. I miss her so much and am honored that both she and her daughter, Aurora, who I also have a special affinity with, will be in the wedding. Fun Fact: Nalicia fell in love with her husband while she was a Dessert Tour Guide, describing 200 different cakes and pastries to people in a cafe in Atlanta. How SWEET!
Gryphon Howell
Groomsman
Gryphon was a very unexpected, yet welcomed, person in my life. He has been a straight A student as long as I have known him, a multi-instrumentalist musician, as well as being quite a good singer. It’s easy to live with him and he’s very respectful of his mom (Brooke) which shows me he’s got his head on straight. Gryphon has a great sense of humor and is very intelligent. He’s taking piano lessons right now, playing on an undefeated soccer team and enjoys hanging out with his friends, skateboarding and exploring the topography of teenage life in Charlotte. Gryphon is very clean and does all of his homework!