Meet the Wedding Party!

Sometimes the dorms in college get it right and put two like-minded strong ladies next door to each other to start a lifelong friendship. After meeting freshman year at Chico State, Deanna taught Monica what it means to be a Jimmy Buffet parrothead and Monica taught Deanna more about the theatrical side of life. Together, they have gone glacier hiking in New Zealand, gone airboating with alligators around New Orleans and have participated in more Santacons than probably anyone else at this wedding. Ask her about her latest adventure - moving from the Bay Area to Salt Lake City, Utah!

Dan and Dan met as interns in the same Transit Engineering group of SFMTA and continue to tolerate each other as coworkers, even while they worked side by side in the sweatshop they lovingly referred to as "the Incubator". Since Dan H first carried an incapacitated Dan M home after a particularly challenging Polk Street bar crawl, the two have become fast friends. Dan Mackowski is always up for anything, is as smart as they come, and an excellent friend. Together, "the Dans" have hosted many parties starting with the "Shots on Fire" party in Fox Plaza, gone on many adventures to places like Reno, Zion, and Sam's Town, and engaged in a number of friendly competitions like soccer, golf, frolf, karaoke, and the neverending amount of gambling. Through his antics, thoughtfulness and friendship, Dan Mackowski has truly earned the title of "Best Man".

Amaya and Monica met in high school where they sort-of learned Spanish, but mostly laughed at one another's corny jokes. Monica always has a big smile on her face after hanging out with Amaya because she has a way of making you feel hilarious (try her out)! She responds to the nickname "Big Bird" so feel free to use this throughout the wedding festivities, though neither of us can actually remember exactly how this nickname began...

Celina & Monica met when studying abroad in Guadalajara, Mexico where they became fast friends over tacos, margaritas and schoolbooks and they have been close ever since. She's in the running for two awards: the "#1 Star Wars fan at the wedding" award and the "person who gives birth closest to the wedding date and still comes to the wedding" award (because she's that good of a friend)!

Don't let her cool demeanor fool you; she can probably survive longer in the wilderness than 99% of the wedding guests. She & Monica met in 5th grade on the kickball field, though only one of them remembers this....awkward! They connected again thankfully later in life as adults via Big Bird and proceeded to enjoy many opportunities to cheer on the San Jose Sharks and wander the adventurous streets of San Francisco.

Meredith & Monica met by the copy machine at Google circa 2006 when they were on the same team. Ten years later, they love sharing adventures to Mexico, Atlantic City, Turks & Caicos and more! Meredith works on diversity initiatives for Google, has a Master's degree in Middle Eastern studies and can speak Arabic!

Every bride needs a Brooklyn bridesmaid who can crack some skulls should the need arise, and Ashley can deliver. This lady boss will be remembered for the time her cat escaped and we had to coax it out from under cars in a parking lot in Chico. If we need to choreograph a dance mid-reception, she will be the person we look to in leading the pack.

Monica's sister-in-law, Brandi is the MIC (mom-in-charge) of Luke-the-ringbearer. She and Monica share a love of wine, though she is a trained microbiologist so is more skilled with a microscope than Monica will ever be. She recently moved to North Carolina, so you may need to remind her to root for the San Jose Sharks over the Hurricanes -- GO SHARKS!

Dan's older sister is never short on wise advice, including encouraging Dan to go after a strong-willed young lady named Monica. She & Monica bonded over long runs and random dog shows they stumbled into in San Diego over Thanksgiving this past year. She is our resident art expert for the wedding, having been the Curator of the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle. Don't let this responsible mom of two fool you - she can cut a rug and party with the best of us!

Chris' wit and sarcasm acts as a much needed check on Dan's otherwise unbounded ego. Friends since grad school, Chris and Dan have enjoyed many trips to the slopes and cold glasses of apple juice. Chris was our chief instigator for picnics and Friendsgivings, so we really don't know what to do with ourselves after he left for snowy Michigan. Chris was one of the guys that Dan had to consult (and keep consulting) about his early dates with Monica, and we're all glad that Dan took at least some of his advice. Dan and Monica value Chris' friendship and his ability to keep Dan's feet firmly planted on the ground, and we hope the Bay Area will steal him back real soon!

Baker is another member of the Berkeley gang, and like Chris, he enjoys a good ski trip and an ice cold beer (not apple juice). Baker is usually somewhere in the great outdoors, way out of cell phone range, and enjoys hiking and camping in the wilderness. Dan missed out on several of Baker's "manping" trips because he couldn't break date plans with Monica, but here's hoping one day Baker and Dan actually go camping together! An exceptional host, Dan has been lucky enough to be invited to many of Baker's parties at his glorious Berkeley house, and Monica also enjoyed making it out there as well. Dan has relied on Baker for a good advice over better drinks, and he hopes to see him more often this year once wedding planning is finally over.

Greg and Dan have been friends since sometime around middle school, as in elementary school Dan was too weird to hang out with. It was Greg who first introduced Dan to fantasy sports in the Torrey Pines High School library, where they were once accused of gambling by a librarian who didn't understand what they were doing. Greg and Dan also carried out some traffic pranks together, like bringing I-5 to its knees using a rolling roadblock, which helped prepare Dan for his career in transportation (ask him!). Though Dan's refusal to return to SoCal for more than a few days at a time has kept the two of them apart, Greg and Dan have always managed to keep in touch, and they even coordinated their quarter-life crises together: In the same year, Greg quit his job as a sports journalist to go to law school, and Dan quit his job as a Navy helicopter pilot to go to grad school. Greg's always up for a baseball game (go Giants!) or a USC football game, though Dan only wants to go if they're playing Berkeley on the off chance that he might finally witness a Cal victory (go Bears!).

Dan's brother Chris is the ultimate party animal - which is why he loves to wear those Hawaiian shirts. Always cracking wise, Chris finally became better than Dan at videogames right around the point where he started designing them. (Dan still thinks he's the better Super Mario Kart driver though, as long as we're talking the N64 version). Chris lives in Seattle where he works for 343 Industries designing the physics for the Halo series of games, and he's proven that he's always up for anything. Monica enjoyed getting to know Chris better on a family trip to Maui, where Chris and Dan both learned to scuba dive at Monica's insistence. Dan couldn't be more proud of his brother and he's happy to have him in his wedding party.

Monica's brother Mike rounds out the groomsmen. Mike enjoys mountain biking and shooting, and he has a lot of opportunities to do both in his new home in North Carolina. Right now, his number one job is being Luke's dad #lukeiamyourfather. Monica and Dan hope to see Mike more in the coming years, and Dan looks forward to getting to know Mike better as he joins the family.