Despite the fact that neither of them can remember quite exactly how they met, Jess and Peyton have been inseparable ever since that mysterious day at the start of 2017. There would be no wedding without Jess, as she is the person that helped orchestrate Peyton and Derek’s becoming a couple.(That story will be told during the Maid of Honor toast so stay tuned, it’s a funny one). Jess is very similar to Derek in many ways, which makes her the perfect best friend for Peyton. She’s hilarious, a mother of two cats that are almost as cute as Derek and Peyton’s two cats, incredibly caring, Peyton’s partner in activism for social justice issues, sarcastic, and a lover of all things Halloween. Peyton can’t wait to hear Jess ugly cry straight through the wedding and is so happy to have her there.

Katrina, also affectionately known by most in the friend group as Mom, is exactly as her nickname describes. She is a new and first time mom to Baby Noa, who Peyton is thrilled to have personally supplied an entire Christmas wardrobe for, and the most motherly/responsible friend of the group...most of the time. Katrina and Peyton met through Peyton hanging around the climbing wall at WSU (Peyton was there to see Derek, not actually climb obviously) and became fast friends. Katrina is a lover of all things nerdy/geeky, a ton of fun no matter where or what’s happening and always loving. She’s also married to the Best Man, Seth.

Riley is the older of the Bride’s two little sisters. Peyton really cannot remember life before Riley was born, therefore most of her earliest memories involve Riley. Some of Peyton’s favorites include watching every Disney movie made, playing Polly pockets, and Riley’s intense childhood obsession with strawberry milk. Riley is in her first year as an SLP at a local elementary school. Peyton is almost always in awe of Riley’s dedication (she finished her undergraduate degree in 2.5 years!!), kindness, and endlessly fun personality. Peyton cannot wait to have her sisters standing with her, and making sure she doesn’t look like a hot mess, on her Wedding Day.

Katy is the youngest sister of the Bride. She easily claims the title of Family Sass Queen and has from a very young age. Katy has some of the best roasting skills in the family, can look 120% better than Peyton in half the time without ever using all of the hot water (a skill that Peyton will never master), and lives for her iced coffees. Minus that one time on family vacation where Katy may or may not have half-attempted to drown Peyton (and thankfully failed), Katy is almost always a part of Peyton’s favorite childhood memories.

Derek’s first memory of Seth is seeing him climbing a nearly impossible route at the rock wall. Derek, being newer at rock climbing, decided to give it a try. It did not go well to say the least, but right away Seth was there giving advice and trying to help Derek out. Since that day, Seth and Derek have become great friends. Playing video games late into the night whether to chill or just talk about the moments in our lives. It's moments like these that make Derek proud to say that, after all these years, Seth is his best friend. Derek is thrilled to see the same goofy guy standing there next to him on the best day of his life.

Derek first met Owen at the rock climbing wall at Wright State. Since then, they’ve enjoyed hanging out, playing games together, and talking about their cats. They also ended up havimg almost identical wardrobes, a coincidence commonly referenced to by their significant others.

Carson is the Bride’s little and only brother. The memory that best describes Carson for Derek is when Derek showed up early to Peyton’s parents house one day and walked in to see Carson and his sisters coming up with a dance routine to some new song. Carson then turned around and said "Sup, Derek". Carson is such a fun and amazing young man. Derek has had the pleasure of seeing Carson grow from the goofy kid he met to this bright (and still weird) young man who will be heading out to play college baseball next fall. Peyton and Derek both just hope he remembers them fondly when he inevitably gets to the big leagues.

Ian is the older brother of the groom. He has been there for Derek throughout his life. Ian also enjoys track racing. Derek is so glad to have a brother like him and loves that he will get to have Ian stand with him on such a special day.

When Derek first met Andy, he really didn't know what to make of him. In the beginning, Derek only noticed all the odd comments and witty jokes Andy would make. That all changed when they were randomly singing along with some songs from YouTube and Derek heard him belting out a beautiful ballad. That velvety voice convinced Derek that there was far more to Andy than meets the eye, Derek was correct. Andy is also one of Peyton’s favorite people to engage in intellectual discussions with, even when she doesn’t actually know what she’s talking about and Andy can tell. Derek and Peyton are both thrilled to have Andy join them on their wedding day.

Persephone is the absolutely adorable little lady who made the Bride officially an Aunt! Persephone, who goes by Kore, is almost 3 years old, stands at over 3 feet tall, and is the future WNBA star that Peyton didn’t know she’d be related to. She’s sassy yet sweet, brave, so smart, and the best big sister to her baby brother, Atlas. Her Aunt Peyton and Uncle Derek cannot wait to have her celebrate with them!