Wedding Party

Clara Murray

Bride

Zach Hudson

Groom

Ashleah McClain

Bridesmaid

Ashleah and I have been best friends since the 1st grade. We once went on a 26-hour bus trip to Washington D.C. where a bus driver felt the need to tell us about the surrounding area we were driving through at 3 am even though we could not see any of it. When I was younger, I would have birthday parties at the swimming pool and that is where Ashleah received one of the worst sunburns of her life. She had a one-piece swimsuit that had a keyhole in the back that was neglected during sunscreen reapplication. She had a blistering sunburn but luckily, she stayed my friend after this incident. Ashleah’s parents had a trashcan in their kitchen that had a sign on it saying “Do not sit on the trashcan.” This is all because I would sit on the top of that trashcan during our girl scout meetings. Additionally, doing our early years we would do what we called “Cheeto races.” A Cheeto race entails going down the stairs backward in a sleeping bag while holding a bowl of Cheetos. We did this until Ashleah’s dad, Michael, said we were flattening the carpet on the stairs too much. Lastly, I did not know Ashleah had a dad for the first few years that I knew her until one day he came out while I was over. I was very confused about who this strange man was in my best friend’s home.

Lucas Berndt

Groomsman

Lucas was the first person I can remember meeting who shares a birthdate with me. We now celebrate our shared birthday together every year. He has shown me the joys of indulging in the finner and nerdy side of life. Lucas has helped me explore the world of dungeons and dragons as Dungeon Master of my first campaign. We both love a good whiskey, and Lucas always has the best recommendations for the next bottle I should try.

Victoria Hennes

Bridesmaid

Victoria and Clara have been best friends since 7th grade. If you are still best friends with someone you meet in middle school, they are the true MVP. Ashleah, Victoria, and I all went on a trip to Seattle in 2017 to attend a Panic at the Disco concert. At the concert, we got stuck in the middle of the mosh pit and some mean girls kept trying to force us backward and were elbowing Ashleah specifically. Victoria was ready to fight to defend Ashleah, but the mean girls moved away. After this concert, we had to take a sketchy subway train back to the hotel. Luckily, we left when the concert ended because we definitely had to walk through a rough part of town. Also, on this trip, we stayed in a yurt because it was on Victoria’s bucket list. It was on the beach next to the Pacific Ocean, and it was beautiful. However, it was March and the water was very cold so we could not go into the ocean. Lastly, Victoria and I use to work at Walgreens together. She told me after I had moved on to a different job, that people at work thought I was dead on the inside because my eyes were always empty at work. I hated this job, it was the absolute worst. Fun fact: while Victoria worked at Walgreens there was a man in Topeka that was stealing cigarettes from over the top of the plastic barrier by the front register. When this man tried to steal from Victoria, she slapped his hand and he dropped the cigarettes. They played the loop of her hitting his hands for weeks in the back room.

Saif Merchant

Groomsman

Saif and I are trauma-bonded due to our shared experience of a senior project. We got to know each very well during all the late nights and early mornings in the Jayhawk Motorsport shop while working on our senior design project. Also, we love to keep each other humble by knocking each other down a few pegs when our heads are getting too big.

Maddie Murray

Bridesmaid

Maddie and I go way back to ’99 to when she made me a big sister. We share quite a few memories, therefore, I will just share a few. When we were little, I had Maddie ride around in a toy stroller that I pushed around the house. This really delayed her walking phase. I convinced her as a child that she could not drink 7-up until she was 7 years old so she would leave me alone with my special drink. Maddie and I share a core memory. It was the winter of 2012, it was the first winter I had my restricted driver's license. A really bad snowstorm had rolled through, and school should have been canceled, however, it was not. Given that I am a nerd and enjoy getting to school early, we left 30 minutes earlier than we needed to in order to arrive on time. We were driving down the road and there were buses and cars scattered throughout the ditches as we marched along in a line of cars on the icy snow-packed roads. As it neared 8 am, I had Maddie call our dad to have him call the school because we were going to be late; our 15-minute drive took us over an hour to get to school. Truly trauma bonding with this memory.

Christiaan Jansen Van Rensburg

Groomsman

Christiaan and I first met at our summer internship. While working at our summer internship together, we both purchased engagement rings for our significant other on the same weekend. First thing Monday morning, we were both ready to wow each other with big purchases, only to realize we both had taken the seem a huge step in our lives on the same weekend.