Wedding Party
Violet Shetler
Maid of Honor
I met Vi when I was about 17 years old when I sent my horse, Pig, to her mom for training. When I met her, she was about 10 years old but going on 30. She was quiet and shy at first, but once we really got to know each other...MAN did she open up. From riding around the Ohio State Fairgrounds looking for a stolen golf cart, to bowling and eating too much pizza on Galentine's day, Vi's been there with me through it all. We've seen each other's heartbreaks, celebrated each other's accomplishments and triumphs, and calmed one another down more times than we can count. I was with Vi at the barn on the day Alan asked me to be his girlfriend, and in her typical fashion her first reaction was, "Awe, that's gross. But yay". I couldn't ask for a better "little sister" that I never had. When the time came for Alan to propose, this girl made everything...and I mean EVERYTHING happen.
Krista Schultz
Bridesmaid
Clarion brought me several friendships over 6 years, but this one is one of the most special to me. Krista (or Kwita), was one of my first official friends on campus. We met when our CA did one of those super fun icebreaker games where we introduced ourselves along with something that starts with the letter of our name (Sutherlyn Soup and Krista Kit Kat, thank you very much). We hit it off right away. We lived two rooms apart, and honestly I think I spent more time in her room than mine. We were seemingly inseparable from the get-go, and probably some of the most annoying people in the library during study breaks during finals week. From getting serenaded by the ukulele, trips to Erie (for what I'll let her tell you), piercing anniversaries, and even her own wedding, I could never imagine NOT having Krista as a part of my life or my wedding day.
Tiffanee Chess
Bridesmaid
The first "official" day that I met Tiff was at her house in Sheridan, Wyoming, just a couple days before her and Mike's wedding. We had obviously chatted on FaceTime or on the phone when the boys would call each other, but I admit it was a little unconventional to meet my future sister-in-law this way. Leading up to their wedding we really didn't get to talk or hangout much (ya know, I guess she was sort of busy or something), but I helped out in the kitchen and even drove our father-in-law all the way to the Walmart in Cody the day of. After Mike and Tiff's move back to PA, I knew I wanted to become her friend. I definitely think we clicked pretty early, whether it's because we're married (or almost married) to brothers, or because we like some of the same things, I'll let you decide.
Morgan Zaffino
Bridesmaid
Flash back to 2016. Clowns with knives are terrorizing every town across America, and I'm complaining about 8 AM classes. As I'm walking up one of the horrendous hills of Clarion to my first Speech Pathology class, I notice this red head girl following me. As any other socially awkward person does, I try to hide the fact that I'm practically dying once I get to the class, and notice this SAME girl walks in. To make things better, she sits by me. Talk about a stalker. Flash forward to 2024, and I can't even remember a day that doesn't have Morgan in it. We've laughed, we've cried, we've sat on gross apartment floors talking about crappy guys and we've conquered all of undergrad and grad school together. We've had more "dude, he's trash, get him out" and "but I promise he's a great guy" conversations than what is considered probably normal. All that aside, Morgan is one of the most genuine, caring, and compassionate humans I've ever met.
Mike Chess
Best Man
From Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Wyoming and everywhere in between, my brother and I have had some great memories together. In the 25 years we've been running around, there's too many to just pinpoint one for this write-up. I was fortunate enough to be his best man at his wedding in Wyoming when he married Tiffanee. From celebrating Bill's birthday in Wisconsin and Tunin' to the Moon, I'm thankful Mike has been by my side for every step of this journey called life, I can't think of a better little brother to spend the most important day of my life with.
Jason Nageotte
Groomsman
Jason is the person that got me into archery hunting, failed to convince me to bass fish, and spent so much time with me in the kayak fishing on French Creek. Jason also helped me get lost in my mom's brand new car in a foreign country. Jason has always been the voice of reason out of all of my friends; talking us out of doing something dumb in his parents living room at 2 am or explaining to John and I how we are dumb for doing something after we already did it. Jason and his wife Destiny have been a pivotal part of my life for as long as I can remember and I'm thankful for them to be apart of my big day.
John Adams
Groomsman
What can I say about the only person that I talk to almost (if not) more than my fiancée? Some of you are going to wonder if I'm marrying John instead of Sutherlyn since he calls me around 2:30 pm when he's getting out of work, and we are on the phone for either 15 minutes or 13 hours (yes, 13 hours) with no in-between. From having my best day of fishing ever to being a part of some very memorable hunts, John is the one guy I can call when I have an extremely bad idea, but I need someone to do it with me. We've walked 100 miles in scouting and had many fish-full and fish-less days on the water. We've been scouting with negative wind chills and fishing through monsoons. John has been there for every good, bad and ugly moment in my life, and is always the one I call for back-up. John and his wife have been a huge part of my life from all the adventures to all the shared phone calls. I'm very thankful for both John and Sam and I'm so glad that they could be a big part of our day.
Kyle Tharp
Groomsman
For 20 years Kyle has been a part of my life. At this point I can not remember a holiday without Kyle. I have had the opportunity to watch Kyle's family grow from just him and his wife, Meg, to Kyle and Meg and their daughters Tilly and AnnaMae. We've gone from Canada trips where Kyle would take the net from me and I lost a giant Musky, to me having to show him up while I was very sick by catching two muskies in the same spot in Ohio I shared with him after he said "there's no fish here!". I'm so thankful to have had Kyle by my side for so long.