Bridesmaids

Marina – Maid of Honor – Sister

Marina is just 14 months older than me—practically Irish twins—which means we've spent most of our lives side by side, whether we liked it or not (spoiler: we mostly liked it). She really sees me which is evident by her picking out both my engagement ring and wedding dress without missing a beat. Growing up with her means having a built-in best friend, occasional rival, and lifelong style consultant all rolled into one. Life is just better with her.

Sasha – Bridesmaid – Cousin

Alright. This girl I was obsessed with growing up; I thought she walked on water. I now see her as a mortal being, but still look up to her for similar reasons as I did when I was young. She's a strong leader, extremely charismatic, and highly motivated. Our family is beyond lucky to have her.

Desaray – Bridesmaid – Cousin

Desaray is an absolute dreamboat. She lights up every room she walks into, and it's almost impossible not to be grinning ear to ear or crying with laughter when she's around. Her gentleness and humility were a nice counterbalance to our loud, hectic family functions growing up.

Francisca – Bridesmaid – Friend

I've known Francisca since we were 4 years old ("and it shows" as they say). Joey likes to point out that we speak in shorthand when we are together and offer no context to others who have joined in on our conversation. I'd like to publicly apologize here and now for that. I can't wait to grow old with this free-spirited individual who always sees the best in people.

Shayna – Bridesmaid – Friend

Shayna is such a uniquely, beautiful person. I met her in college, and people loved, and still love her for her child-like sense of wonder and warm heart. She never tries to be anything other than herself, and that authenticity is so special to me. I look up to the way she's able to always advocate for herself and others in the most genuine manner. She's pretty neat.

Taryn – Bridesmaid – Friend

I didn't meet Taryn until college, but we almost met a thousand times growing up. We shared friends, our families knew one another, we were at the same parties. The simulation was just waiting for the perfect moment: our sophomore year of college when we were somewhat lost and needed each other most. We were brought together by similar values, music taste, and capacity for deep conversations. She gives me the warm & cozies and feels like home to me.

Jess – Bridesmaid – Friend

My 20s would've sucked without Jess. While I met her right out of college in Oklahoma, she moved to Colorado years later which is when our friendship really flourished. She was my ultimate support system and made me feel seen in a new city. The number of road trips, concerts, dinner dates, and events we've been to seems endless. I value her acceptance of others, her passion, and how she can go from deeply feeling something to leading the room in light-hearted laughter in no time flat.

Molly – Bridesmaid – Friend

Molly is my person. I recently joked with her that if we were in the newborn nursery together, we would get in trouble for always moving our hospital bassinets together against the nurses' wishes. Which I find kind of explains our friendship. I'm drawn towards her openness, kind heart, and her embrace of what others may consider "weird." While we tend to test one another's rebellious spirits, we live for wholesomeness. Maybe it's a Sagittarius thing (I'm sorry, Joey)?

Nat – Bridesmaid – Friend

Nat's strength is absolutely second to none and she can seemingly do it all. She is an amazing cook (like the 'makes salmon fried rice for you in the middle of the mountains while camping' sort of cook), wears the heck out of a floral summer dress, and is the kind of cutie who sends you a poinsettia during the holiday season, all while listening and mouthing the words to her most recent favorite rap song on her second flight of the week to her new sales territory. I dare you to name a cooler friend.

Groomsmen

Timmy – Best Man – Brother

Known Since: Since his birth - 1992 (32 years)
Connection: Brother
Most likely to: Cook a five-star breakfast at 2am

Timmy and I went to the same undergraduate college. More often than you'd expect, my roommates and I would call Timmy (who would be out at some other party) and ask him to come over and cook us a late-night breakfast. He'd come with one or two friends and casually whip up breakfast for 5 or more hungry dudes. We told him he was the one getting a great deal with the free food, but we knew that between the free labor and his excellent company, we were the real winners here.

Song That Reminds Me of Him: "Feel It Still" by Portugal. The Man – Saw them together at the tiny Fox Theatre (~300 capacity) during our first year in Boulder—packed house, sold out, simply amazing.

Ben T – Groomsman – Friend

Known Since: 1998 – 25 years
Connection: First friend in New Hampshire
Most likely to: Turn a vehicle into an adventure mobile

When Timmy and I first moved to Boulder, Ben had a great idea to build an adventure vehicle from an old shuttle bus and drive west for the ski season. Christened 'Edna', the van looked like a regular shuttle bus outside but was a log cabin—complete with working wood stove—inside. For two winters, Ben was our third roommate, and we spent weekends driving to mountains to ski in Edna, avoiding traffic and getting first tracks.

Song That Reminds Me of Him: "Cupid's Chokehold" by Gym Class Heroes – He loved it so much he paid for it to be his cell phone ringback tone in high school, which expired and switched him to Bach's Allegro for nearly a decade.

Ben M – Groomsman – Friend

Known Since: 2000 – 23 years
Connection: Middle school friend in NH, NYC neighbor
Most likely to: Win both a beauty pageant and a trivia competition

Ben and I are both winners of the prestigious 'Mr. John Stark' competition at our high school—a charity "beauty pageant" (very tongue-in-check) where his victory was secured with impressive violin skills, while mine involved 30 seconds of yo-yoing followed by a stand-up bit. Mine was less impressive - trust me. We're also members of the State Champion trivia team from 2007, our names immortalized on a banner in our high school gym. He's now a college lecturer in Political Theory / Social Studies so I'm sure both of these accomplishments lead his CV.

Song That Reminds Me of Him: "Pressure" by Swollen Members – As kids, we both were obsessed with snowboard and ski films and loved finding new music in them. This track was one of his discoveries he shared with me, and it made it onto quite a few burned CDs back in the day.

Ashton – Groomsman – Friend

Known Since: 2013 – 12 years
Connection: University of St Andrews, neighbors in NYC, Denver friend
Most likely to: Be an awesome companion in an apocalypse bunker

Absolutely yes. Ashton moved to Denver in 2020 after I convinced him of the Colorado lifestyle and became a central part of our lives during that strange time. We had countless park hangs, hikes, ski days, and he was even part of our holiday "pod" for a memorable Thanksgiving with just me, Macy, and him. His incredible collection of 4K Blu-rays, myriad interests, and our pandemic dry run together make him an obvious choice for apocalypse companionship.

Song That Reminds Me of Him: "Also Sprach Zarathustra" by Richard Strauss – The iconic theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey that reminds me of when Ashton was horrified to learn I'd never seen the film and immediately hosted a mandatory movie night. Although the man's got a mean record collection so lots to pick from.

Akash – Groomsman – Friend

Known Since: 2016 – 9 years
Connection: Roommate at Krash co-living space in NYC
Most likely to: Turn a wrong turn into the right adventure

For Akash's 30th, I suggested Colorado as a meeting point for the party and organized mountain bike rentals for his friends from all over. When Akash wanted an extra challenge, I directed his group to what I thought was a good trail, but it led them over a mountain into a different town and was partially covered in snow. Akash had a blast despite these challenges—perfectly illustrating who he is: embracing difficulty and finding fun at the edges.

Song That Reminds Me of Him: "Working For It" by ZHU – After moving to Colorado, Akash insisted I come to a concert for an artist I'd never heard of during a visit to NYC. I had no idea ZHU would perform completely shrouded in darkness wearing a hooded wizard robe - loved that show.

Armand – Groomsman – Friend

Known Since: 2016 – 9 years
Connection: Also a roommate at Krash co-living space in NYC. When Akash moved out Armand (aka 'AP') moved in.
Most likely to: Find the perfect unexpected detour

After a weekend of mountain biking in Moab, Utah, while waiting for Armand's flight, he spotted a three-wheel sports car rental and decided that's exactly what we needed to do with our extra hours. This machine was serious—0-60 in less than 4 seconds—and we had an absolute blast cruising around the two hour ‘La Sal Mountain Loop’. I was initially resistant to the idea, but AP was right, as he often is about finding unique adventures.

Song That Reminds Me of Him: "Work" by Rihanna – He's always the first one up on group trips for early morning activities. His tradition is to wake me and everyone else in the house up by playing this song. I’ve heard it enough times in this scenario that I've developed a permanent aversion to it.

James Leonard – Groomsman – Friend

Known Since: 2018 – 7 years
Connection: Armand introduced us - we bike and ski together now.
Most likely to: Turn any activity into something memorable

James has an incredible power for making things fun and meaningful, and you easily sense that he's deliberate about this while it also comes naturally to him. Originally a buddy of Armand's, AP had been telling me forever I needed to meet his friend ‘Jim‘ when he finally invited him along on a group ski trip. AP was right, and it's led to countless memorable adventures in far-flung places like France and Mexico to places closer like Detroit and SLC. Oh, and he's never seen a banjo jam circle he doesn't like.

Song That Reminds Me of Him: "Too Few Tattoos" by Pretty Jane – One of Jim's recent music recommendations that hit so perfectly I nearly wore it out—his musical suggestions have an impressively high success rate.

James Leedom – Groomsman – Friend

Known Since: 2019 – 6 years
Connection: Met at Zuni Brewing in Denver
Most likely to: Turn sad tacos into lifelong friendship

We met at our local brewery on a busy day when all other tables were taken. Desperate to find a seat, our group asked to share his table while he was eating what turned out to be post-breakup "sad tacos." Despite being there just to grab a quick lunch, he ended up hanging out with us for the rest of the day and joined our party afterward. We've been great friends ever since—he was also mine and Macy's immediate neighbor for years before buying a house just a few blocks away. Have yet to forgive him for moving away from us.

Important Note: All tacos I've eaten with him since have been happy tacos.

Song That Reminds Me of Him: Any song by Caamp – The musical backdrop to countless hangouts over the years.