Matron of Honor - Nicole
My cousin, surrogate sister, best friend, partner-in-crime, confidante, therapist, and enabler all wrapped up in a small-yet-scrappy package. I could put a really cute posey picture of the two of us together like I did our guest wedding website, but I find that the photo to the left is far more descriptive of the nature of our relationship.
Bridesmaid - Erin B.
My college roommate from undergrad. Well, she wasn 't technically my roommate, as she didn't actually room with me. However, we practically lived in one another's dorm rooms, slept on each other's floors from time to time, and spent nearly every moment of my two years of undergrad together doing something we probably should have gotten in trouble for in a perfect, law-abiding world.
Bridesmaid - Jenny
My second BFF, closest girlfriend in grad school and favorite travel buddy. A partner-in-crime on so many occasions. True confidante in every sense of the word. She's been amazing in the planning process, helping me (whether I ask for it or not, lol) at every turn. She'll likely be plying me with champagne and margaritas for the entire day leading up to the ceremony, and will probably look better in her dress than I do in mine. But I'm cool with that. :)
Bridesmaid - Annie
Annie was my brother's longtime girlfriend. Unfortunately, they have since broken up, but she's still an amazing girl and a good friend.
Bridesmaid - Erin C.
My cousin, Nicole's younger sister and Sarah's older sister. She's been a big part of my life, and vice versa, since pretty much the day she was born. She's incredibly smart, a great athlete, and an actress to boot. She apparently inherited my overachiever gene in some weird, non-scientifically-explainable-given-the-genetics way, because she's good at everything. Seriously.
Bridesmaid - Sarah
My cousin, and Nicole and Erin's younger sister. Sense a theme going on here? Like Erin, she's been a big part of my life, and vice versa, since she was in diapers. She's also incredibly smart, very creative, and is the resident fashion expert of our family. Which is why I'm leaving all major wedding beauty decisions in the hands of a 13-year-old. Because she'll be right, believe me.
Queen of Everything - Rickylee
The wife of one of my grad school classmates, a fellow Ph.D. candidate, a fellow OG NEYer, and one of my closest girlfriends. She's doing a reading in our wedding, but she's done (and is doing) so much more than that. She hands down supplies and advice from her wedding, she lends me advice on vendors and venues and registries and all things bridal, she lends me her awesome craft/DIY skills, she offers up her help on the big day for everything from setting up centerpieces to handing out programs, she plys me with margaritas when the stress of planning a wedding while working two full-time jobs and being a full-time Ph.D. student gets to be too much. She quite literally is my therapist, wedding coordinator, advice guru, gossip girlfriend, bartender, and Martha Stewart, all wrapped up into one. I can honestly say without any doubt that I could not do this without her help. :)
Best Man - Ken
ScubaSteve's father and best friend. Source of FI's sense of humor, occasional New England accent, and grey hairs. Quite possibly the funniest and coolest FIL a girl could ask for. Picture coming soon.
Groomsman - Art
ScubaSteve's older brother, lives in Colorado. Is very tall, is a fan of cowboy hats, makes a mean Chipotle burger, and likes to play pranks on his FSIL (that would be me). Has two awesome sons (as seen in headlock positions), but more on them later...
Groomsman - Joe
Joe is one of our closest friends. I met Joe about three years ago when he started in our graduate program - we spent the evening trading Jello shots and conversing about everything from world politics to whether or not Britney Spears was, in fact, 100% organic. FI and Joe met about a year later at a school-sponsored bowling tournament, when they placed in second and first place, respectively. Joe is a frequent visitor to our homestead and makes a mean teriyaki skirt steak (yes, there is a theme going here...).
Groomsman - Chris
My younger brother. He's got a wicked dry sense of humor and it will literally be a miracle if I can get through my wedding day without him making me shoot champagne out of my nose.
Yeah, that guy hamming it up in the middle? That would be my dad. He's just awesome like that.
Yeah, that guy hamming it up in the middle? That would be my dad. He's just awesome like that.
Groomsmen - Kenny & Dakota
ScubaSteve's nephews and two of my favorite people under the age of 21. I wish I had a nice picture, but headlocks seem to be common when the three of them are together.