Francesca and I met on the first day of kindergarten after being put together by our teacher, because we were both quiet and shy. For almost 20 years now, Francesca has been by my side through everything, and very quickly became the sister that I never had. Francesca is one of the kindest, most genuine people I’ve ever met, and she is an exceptional friend. We’ve made so many memories together, like going on vacations with my family, our annual Christmas sleepovers, and countless drives down River Road. Francesca is the definition of a lifelong friend, and I feel so lucky to call her one of my best friends. When we were 16, we went to one of my cousin’s weddings together, and I told her that she’d be my Maid of Honor when the time came. I’m so excited to be able to make good on that promise almost 10 years later, and to have her by my side on wedding day.

Jose and I met the for first time in middle school from when I had just moved to America from The Philippines. He was one of my first friends that I met, immediately taking me under his wing as I adjusted to being in a new country; we have been best homies ever since. One of my favorite memories with Jose was when we were on a field trip to Holiday World in middle school. It was one of my first trips in America, and Jose, along with the rest of the guys made it a very fun, memorable experience. Jose truly cares about his loved ones, and he shows this through his relationship with his daughter. I’m so honored that he agreed to be my best man, and I’m looking forward to having him stand by my wedding day.

Kelly and I met through Shem and Kelly’s husband, Matt, back in high school, and we quickly became friends after a couple of double dates. Over the years, we’ve only continued to grow closer, and Kelly has become one of the most important people in my life. Kelly is my favorite person to go to concerts with, and is the best gym partner you could ask for (even if we sometimes decide to skip out on cardio to get Starbucks instead!). Despite seeing each other quite frequently, we never run out of things to talk about, and I know that I can confide in Kelly about anything and everything. Kelly is an amazing listener and will go out of her way to support those that she cares about. I’m incredibly lucky to call Kelly one of my best friends, she truly does have a heart of gold. I’m so grateful that Kelly agreed to be my Matron of Honor, and am so excited to have her stand by my side on my wedding day.

I met Matt met through our first job at Kroger back in high school, and became closer friends through our mutual interest in PC Gaming. Matt is a techie who helped me build my first PC and was the first friend that I could talk to about computers. Matt and I started spending more time together when we started going on double dates with Liv and his wife, Kelly. We have always supported each other through life’s ups and downs. I’m honored to have him stand by my side on my wedding day.

Colleen and I met right before sixth grade during middle school volleyball conditioning. Our friendship quickly took off after spending many hours together at practices and games, and I can remember feeling so grateful that we continued spending lots of time together even after the season ended. Middle school was filled with countless sleepovers, begging our parents to drive us back and forth to each other’s houses constantly, and too many inside jokes to count (we laugh about them just as much now as we did then). Colleen is someone that, no matter how much time passes from when we last saw each other, we automatically pick up from where we left off, and there is a strong sense of familiarity when we see each other, even after an extended period of time. Despite there being a larger physical distance between us now, our friendship still feels just as strong as it did when she lived ten minutes away from me. I can’t wait for Colleen to stand by my side on wedding day.

I also met Gabriel the for the first time in middle school. We didn’t initially like each other because I made fun of him when we were younger, but throughout the years, we started hanging out more and got to know each other better. One of my favorite memories with him was when we were driving back from Chicago and we started having a deep conversation about life and really connected with one another. Gabriel is one of the most genuine people you could ever meet and I’m proud to have him by my side on my special day.

Madison and I met during our freshman orientation at Bellarmine when we were placed in the same group. Orientation was a bit overwhelming for both of us, two introverts being forced to play icebreaker games, but we quickly gravitated towards one another. We had an orientation class during our first semester where we got to know each other even more and got closer. We were lucky enough to share a few other classes together at Bellarmine, despite our majors being wildly different from one another, and we even lived together during our sophomore year (before COVID hit and forced us to leave our dorm). Now, we get coffee together once a week and update each other on our lives, and we’ve had several sleepovers where we’ve binge watched each other’s favorite TV shows. Madison is someone who I can talk to about anything, and she makes anyone she’s with feel comfortable and listened to. I’m so grateful to have Madison stand by my side on wedding day.

Issac and I became great friends through playing NBA 2K together. We knew each other in high school but we weren’t as close as we are now. He is very competitive in every video game he’s ever touched, and I honesty hate the fact that I could only beat him at 2K on special occasions. If you ever want to talk about basketball analytics, he’s the man. Issac is also a loving father and would do anything for his son. He is a true friend who genuinely cares about the people around him and I’m happy to celebrate my wedding with him by my side.