Groomsmen
Bridesmaids
Best Man: Jeff Cleveland
Timur and Jeff met at UMass (Amherst), where they were
both studying computer science. Their relationship
evolved from being bitter rivals while building
competing computer games (which involved players taking
turns and launching projectiles at each other's castles)
to great friends. They bonded over mutual suffering through the
"wizard book", late night trips to Wendy's, and Saturday
night games of pool. As a Game of Thrones follower, Jeff is
wearing the Hand of the King Groom pin.
Maid of Honor: Barbara Huang
Alyssa met Barbara shortly after she was born. Alyssa was instantly attracted to Barbara's shiny Buddha baby head and glowing smile. They grew up together in Chicago with the other siblings and caused a lot of mischief together (just ask Mr. Huang!). Barbara is sassy, goal-oriented and direct. She means business especially when it comes to ice cream and pandas. You can commonly find Barbara rooting for the NU Wildcats Football Team with her fiancé, Dave (GO CATS)! Even though Barbara lives hundreds of miles away in Chicago, she is still a great influence on Alyssa's life and nothing can break the strong bonds of sisterhood!
David Meisner
Timur met David at the University of Michigan. The trials and tribulations of graduate school, as well as Timur's repeated (but failing) attempts to organize flag or touch football games led to discovering other shared interests. Since then, David, Ben, Mike, and Timur regularly discuss work, life, and anything else of interest in an ongoing facebook messenger conversation that has started 5 years ago. David is an avid Sci-Fi enthusiast and has been a long-time Star Wars fan. A Yoda figurine given he was.
Maid of Honor: Catherine Huang
Cat joined Alyssa and Barbara a year later. She was so cute with her pudgy cheeks that our uncle wanted to adopt her! Cat is an optimist with a heart of gold. She is currently residing in Tokyo and teaching English to Japanese middle-school children. She spends her free time volunteering with Tzu Chi (a Buddhist volunteer group). Most fitting with her free spirit, she enjoys running marathons through the country and fuels these runs with Hot Cheetos. Even though Cat lives thousands of miles away, she is still a great influence on Alyssa's life and nothing can break the strong bonds of sisterhood!
Michael Chow
Mike and Timur also met at Michigan -- actually, during the prospective graduate student dinner. Apparently, Timur did not describe the program in the worst way and Mike decided to join in the fall. It later turned out that Mike has been stalking Timur on an online forum by and for grad students (grad cafe)! Throughout their overlapping years of grad school, Mike used Timur as a human Google Maps, until they both had smart phones. They also played basketball every weekend and Mike catalogued a significant collection of awkward photos of graduate school shenanigans. We got Mike a Pikachu and Charmander pokemon figurines, as Pokemon are some of his most favorite fictional characters.
Shivani Patel
Shivani and Alyssa met freshman year at Northwestern University on the 4th floor of Slivka -- a science and engineering dorm. They instantly bonded over their love of music and concerts. They have survived crazy mosh-pits and even the "Double Wall of Death". On one occasion, Shivani rescued Alyssa when her glasses were crushed at a Thirty Seconds to Mars concert and helped her enjoy Jared Leto's melodic voice. Shivani has the brains of a scientist and the heart of a punk rockstar. And her love of cheese knows no bounds. After completing her medical residency at NYU, she moved across the country to Los Angeles, where Alyssa was completing her residency. They were able to continue their adventures on the West Coast -- including concerts, cafes, museums, and many restaurant -week outings. Alyssa couldn't be happier to have her friend rock out with her wedding day!
Ben-Alexander Cassell
Ben was the other member of the weekend Michigan basketball group. While they never met the first year of graduate school, Ben and Timur got to know each other while working on the Advanced Compilers project -- mostly while trying to complete the final project in the 2 days before the deadline. Coincidentally, Ben was also roommates with David (grad school was a small world). Timur, also, co-authored a paper with Ben and co-started the weekly video game night group. Ben is a Magic the Gathering player and is portrayed here with Garruk -- a planeswalker (we're not sure what it means, but Ben can definitely explain).
Ashley Klobuchar
Ashley and Alyssa's friendship started freshman year at Northwestern University during a Welcome Freshman BBQ. They were "Sweet-mates" living in the same suite at Slivka. They both shared a strong sense of commitment to their education and spent evenings at Norris studying together. After college, Ashley went on to complete a Fulbright Scholarship in Munich, Germany, where Alyssa and other "sweet-mates" went to visit her. Ashley and Alyssa then flew to London to celebrate their 23rd birthdays together. They walked throughout London, watched the Phantom of the Opera and did a bit of shopping at Harrods. Ashley went on to complete her MBA at Stanford University (NBD) and now resides in the Bay Area. In her spare time, she enjoys long distance running, dressing her cat, Meeko, as fruit lady or a lobster and fancy brunches with mimosas. Ashley is one of the sweetest friends a person could ask for. Alyssa couldn't imagine anyone else but Ashley be the CEO of her wedding.
Andrew Gaul
Timur met Andrew while interviewing at Maginatics -- the first job out of grad school. He was so excited about the interview afterward that he wrote everyone "Thank you" notes and was hoping that they'd be happy to have him join. Soon after starting, Timur and Andrew were riding the CalTrain every night, at 6:35 (the last "baby" bullet train to San Francisco from Mountain View). After the Maginatics years, Timur joined Andrew's efforts to start a company. Timur and Andrew often interact through GitHub -- a platform to exchange programming projects and ideas. According to Andrew, that is the only social network that matters and hence he is holding an Octocat (the GitHub mascot) in the photo.
Allison White
Allison and Alyssa were neighbors in the same suite freshman year at Northwestern University. Allison's friendly demeanor was easy to get along with. Maybe it was Allison's golden Californian attitude. They became friends over the course of their studies at NU. They shared a love for sushi and sitting on the Lake Michigan beach. Allison completed her chemical engineering degree at NU and became a consultant. Even after Alyssa left Chicago, Allison and Alyssa kept in touch. In 2016, Alyssa and Allison both found themselves in the Bay Area, where there is an abundance of amazing sushi. Most recently, Allison and her husband, Kevin, welcomed a beautiful daughter. Alyssa is lucky to have Allison as part of her bridal party!