Wedding Party

Kevin "KMO" Morton - Best Man

When I think of Kevin, two main traits come to mind - leadership and being comfortable in his own skin. He's done everything from being the lead act in musicals, becoming president at his college fraternity, wrestling, football, but also the finer things in life like knitting, baking, woodwork, and enjoying Japanese culture. In college, Kevin's friends gave him a nickname, KMO, which I think over time has become somewhat of a legendary symbol of how he lives life on his own terms. KMO inspires me to pursue things in my life that interest me, regardless of what others might think.

Mike Morton - Groomsman

Mike has a sharp intellect and dry humor to go with it like no one else I know - he is always a joy to talk to. We regularly have great phone converations where I love to get his take on things or nerd out with him on topics like open source software. One of my favorite things Mike has taught me is the value of spending quality time hanging with the boys - growing up he'd frequently have friends over for all-nighter video game sessions that were so fun. He recently joined me without hesitation to go on a 3-day camping trip with some friends at the Gorge for a DMB concert, and having him there really added a lot to the trip.

Dan Morton - Groomsman

Dan and I enjoyed sharing many hobbies growing up - especially skateboarding, wakeboarding and snowboarding. We'd spend entire days together at the skate park or on the ski hill, pushing each other to progress to the next level. I get a little embarrassed when I watch our old skate videos now, because it's really apparent how much faster he progressed in skating than I did, despite me thinking otherwise at the time! Dan never boasted about it even though I would claim to be the better skater, and that gets into one of Dan's best traits. Despite being talented at what he does, Dan is a very caring, humble person who goes out of his way to think about others.

Kevin Molloy - Groomsman

The first time I met Kevin was naturally stressful - I was the new guy from out of town dating his little sister. However, he surprised me with how welcoming he was right off the bat. Something he did that meant a lot to me was he recognized I was new to town and introduced me to his social circle of awesome friends - one of which I now regularly go surfing with. Most of my favorite nights in San Francisco have been with Kevin, whether it's at one of his house parties, going to our favorite bars with friends, or double dating with him and his lovely girlfriend Gina. Kevin is one of the most genuine people I know, and I'm so excited to have him as a brother-in-law.

Joseph Lagoni - Groomsman

Joey and I quickly became friends when we met freshman year of high school. We both have 3 brothers and love live music. He's got a great balance of wit, humor, and sarcasm that makes him a blast to hang out with. In surfing culture there's a term, "the stoke", which is used to describe the feeling surfers get from riding waves that keeps them coming back for more. Joey has the stoke, not in surfing, but in the Dave Matthew Band. He's been to over 50 of their shows over the years, and I love sharing the stoke with him at their shows whenever I can.

Andrew Merkle - Groomsman

Andy and I have been friends back to elementary school, and a lot of our friendship has centered around playing guitars. Even in 5th grade, we both performed in the same talent show - he played (and sang!) Green Day's Good Riddance and I played an adapted version of The Star Spangled Banner. Later on in high school, we joined up to play in an acoustic duo arrangement. We even had a few paid gigs, but my favorite memories are jamming with him in our friends' basements on Friday nights. Andy's a great friend to have because he reminds me to slow down and enjoy the good parts of life.

Drew Cunniff - Groomsman

Drew and I have been friends since elementary school, and some of our most memorable times is when we were roommates during our last year of college. Drew knows how to have good old fashioned fun. He'd setup weekly taco nights (the simple Ortega-brand-hard-shell kind), introduced me to the wonderful Whirley-Pop popcorn popper, and we'd frequently blow off steam together playing Call of Duty: Black Ops Zombies. Another gesture of his that I haven't forgotten is he organized a send-off kegger for me right before I left for San Francisco, which meant a lot since I graduated early without a commencement ceremony.

Colton Ziemanski - Groomsman

Colton and I met under unusual circumstances: in college we both had just broken up with girlfriends we'd been living with, and to resolve the situation we swapped apartments with our exes and became roommates. Colton helped me move by packing his small car full of all my stuff, late on a weeknight. On the ride over he could tell I wasn't doing well, and gave a simple reassurance of "it's going to be OK man!" We've been good friends ever since. That summer, we enjoyed Madison together going out to bars, sailing, and smoking corn cob pipes on our balcony. Colton's one of the most loyal and generous friends I have, and always knows how to have a good time.