September 2019 was a challenging and exciting time in my life. First year teaching, 74 mile commute, and a global pandemic looming in the near future. Luckily for me, I would also meet Mollie this year. Someone who would help me discipline my rowdy class, lend me a section of her classroom floor to hide and cry on during our lunch breaks, and, most importantly, a bestie who would attend all the last minute concerts of our dreams. Between car rides, lunch breaks, phone calls, sleepovers, games of Mario party, and doggie play dates, I am lucky to call Mollie one of my best friends. I am so glad to see that Kelly is not only a reliable and designated chauffeur, but he is also helping Mollie to master her potential as a top notch sugar mama. (If that doesn’t work, I’ve shown her Gone Girl.)

Liz and Mollie have been friends for over 20 years (yes, they're old)! Liz met Mollie in soccer when they were young, and were so inseparable that everyone called them sisters- aided by the fact that they would "twin" outfits whenever they got the chance. Liz works as a PA in the Lake Tapps area, and while she no longer spends long hours playing Webkinz like she used to do with Mollie, she still loves dancing, hiking, and baking. Liz considers herself lucky to have a beautiful friendship that has endured for so long, and she is ecstatic to get to be there for Mollie and Kelly's big day.

The one part about becoming a teacher I was so excited for was making teacher friends. Call me silly, but I spent a lot of time thinking about the outfits I’d wear and the adults I’d spend time with. Mollie & I are in our second year co-teaching together and she has exceeded all my expectations for what I thought a teacher friend would look like. I can always count on her for delicious snacks, Tylenol, and a good pick me up if the day has gone sideways. Mollie is the only person who could talk me into going to work the Monday after a 6 game water polo weekend in another country. As far as Kelly goes, the man let me know I had expired tabs within an hour of my car being parked in his driveway. He’s observant and I like that about him.

I met Mollie through my brother Kelly and she has truly been a light in my life. I am so excited to be a part of their big day! I’m a huge animal lover and I absolutely love being Auntie Peggy to their sweet dog, Sky. More often than not you can find me at a concert with friends, trying new restaurants, or at a musical with my mom!

Hello! My name is Katie Steinke and I’m so blessed and excited to be part of Mollie and Kelly’s bridal party! I’ve known Mollie and the Ridge family since middle school where we met at church youth group and spent many a day at their home swimming on the lake and enjoying their hospitality. Mollie has been a close friend ever since and even though we live states apart, I know she always has my back. Her and her parents were huge supports the week of my own wedding and continue to show that family comes from all places and forms. I adore her immensely and can’t wait to see her begin her forever adventure with Kelly. Love you Mollie!

Kellys life was forever changed during his first year at Central Washington University. One of those fateful changes was meeting some person known as Seth McAlister-Mykrantz. Through shared interests in music, rally, driving passengers cars places where they really should not have been in the first place, and camping out of truck beds, the shenanigans soon followed. From nearly smashing oil pans off road to losing drones in the wind, it has always been an adventure. Whenever I’ve struggled with making big decisions or needed to discuss ideas and plans, Kelly has always been a steadfast friend who is always willing to support me and many others in his life in the same way. Going through life with these qualities, it is to no surprise that Mollie took a liking to Kelly, and thus we end up here. I am grateful and honored to be a part of Kelly and Mollies lives and their big day.

I don’t know how I got here. One moment I’m sleeping on a gym floor a couple of sleeping bags away from some weird freshman who has the facial hair of a Civil War general, and the next I’m going to be in his wedding because we will have a snap streak of 2,754 by the day of the wedding. Somewhere between then and now, there’s been laughs, loud noises, late nights, early mornings, drinks consumed responsibly, and greasy bags of Dick’s. Kelly loves Dick’s, and he eventually learned to love Mollie. It is truly beautiful, because as the great philosopher, DJ Khaled, once said, “Love is the most powerful thing in the world, and you know, what love brings is joy.”

I first met Kelly while in college at Central Washington University. He became a good friend almost instantly, and was always up for an adventure. Some of my favorite times with Kelly have been hiking, camping, attending concerts, and trying to keep up with his insane abilities to lift weights at the gym. Whether it’s a casual meal together or needing help working on a car, Kelly is always one to volunteer to help without expecting anything in return. That’s just the kind of person he is. I lived with Kelly in college for two years, and I remember when he first started dating Mollie. As you know these two are both very special people and I’m so thrilled to be able to wish them a happy marriage!

Kelly must have felt powerful encountering me for the first time in 2014 or 2015. He was a younger, bigger version of myself, but with even curlier hair, though identical YouTube recommendations. Lucky for me, when Kelly joined me at CWU the next year, he had gotten older and smaller, (though my other flaws remain). Playing trombone and living in the Avocottage together is surely the highlight of Kelly's life up until he met Mollie. In 2019, Kelly and I went to the zoo before having Thanksgiving dinner with my grandparents. Acknowledging the difficulty of finding an adult friend to go to the zoo with, that I can't remember who's idea it was, and Kelly's perfect politeness at what turned out to be my grandfather's last Thanksgiving, speaks to the friendship Kelly and I have.

High school was a time of discovery where Alex went on to go through an edgy hipster phase and discover what would later become known as “Electronic Dance Music”. Out of the friend group, Kelly became the most tolerant to the noise with many loud, late night drives to grab Dick’s burgers were had. Once Kelly showed up with his Subaru and a way too big of a subwoofer shoved in the trunk, backseat DJ dreams became a reality. While Alex’s DJ dreams continue to be 100% realistic and attainable, another goal shared by men worldwide has taken his attention: stay-at-home husband, no responsibility, and an unlimited amount of disposable income.