Our Wedding Party
We are grateful for the close friends and dear family that will be joining us this fall. With so many people from all over the country, we thought it would be fun to provide pictures and a blurb about everyone in the wedding party. Happy reading and see you in October!
Stacie Vodopivec - Maid of Honor, sister of Bride
Stacie and I are roomies out in the suburbs of Chicago and having a great time - there have been many movie nights and shopping excursions! We could probably fill a room with all of our shoes and purses combined! Stacie graduated from Ohio State University (Go Buckeyes!) with a degree in speech language pathology in 2004 and went on for her Masters from Indiana University. She is currently working at a pediatric clinic in Libertyville as a Speech Language Pathologist. Since moving in, Stacie has become really good friends with our furry roommate, Zoey. Stac, I love you!
Nikki Vodopivec - Maid of Honor, sister of Bride
Nikki just graduated with her Bachelors in Marketing and Fashion Merchandising from Kent State University (my alma mater!) in December 2006, and is now working at Target as an executive team leader. Nikki is the fashion consultant in the family, always knowing the latest trends, especially helpful for the wedding! We are waiting for the day that she moves to Chi-town as well to make the Vodopivec trifecta complete. Nik, Stac and I are giving you about a year to pack up and move west! I love you Rik!
Josh Klinger - Best Man, friend of Groom
Belle Banta - Flower Girl, Niece of Groom
Belle is my first niece, Ted and Molly's oldest daughter, big sister to Bergen, and our most senior flower girl. I have a lot of fun memories from trips out to Monterey, California, Washington DC and even Okinawa, Japan to visit Belle and the family. Belle, Kristin and I are so looking forward to you being part of our wedding party!
Bergen Banta - Flower Girl, Niece of Groom
My middle niece, Bergen Banta, Ted & Molly's youngest daughter, is the acrobat of the Banta girls as I've probably flipped her over my shoulder dozens of times only for her to beg for more. Kristin's first introduction to Bergen even included her pet rat at the time out in San Diego...good times! We're so looking forward to you joining us on our big day!
Molly Banta - Bridesmaid, sister-in-law of Groom
Ted Banta - Groomsman, brother of Groom
We are both glad Ted & Molly are able to be there and stand with us on our wedding day. My brother Ted is a LtCol in the US Marine Corps and is currently working at the Pentagon in Wasington DC after recently completing further studies at the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. Molly is busy as well not only with Belle and Bergen but working in Virginia as a hospice caregiver. Molly and Ted were married in Yosemite National Park and have since lived in many locations, including both US coasts and across the pacific in Okinawa, Japan. Ted and Molly are now living in Virginia with the girls.
Chuck Bonini - Groomsman, friend of Groom
Chuck is a fraternity brother of mine from the Sigma Chi house at Embry-Riddle and like me, grew up in the Nutmeg State of Connecticut. We both graduated back in '96 with George Yurcic (below) and the three of us had some fun road trips to the leadership workshops Sigma Chi (typically hosted in the middle of nowhere). Chuck is now employed with JetBlue as a First Officer. It's great to have friends from college joining us and to have a couple fraternity brothers as part of the wedding crew. Chuck is pictured here trying out as a pretzel maker during one of those road trips to North Dakota.
Kelly Edmond - Bridesmaid, friend of Bride
Kelly and I met in college at Kent State when we both joined the Delta Gamma Sorority and have been friends ever since. We were also roomies for the past 8 years until August 2006 when Kelly had the chance to move to Redondo Beach, CA to experience the west coast. Although I am happy that she has this opportunity, I miss her a lot! Kel, I'm so glad you will be back to Chicago for our special day! And Zoey misses you bunches!
Emily Gallagher - Flower Girl, Niece of Groom
Emily is a big fan of princesses and will make a beautiful flower girl. She's already been very helpful, even designing wedding dresses
Emily's Artwork for Kristin.
Emily and her little brother, Jack, just recently moved to Atlanta from the Boston area. We can't wait to have you out in Chicago for the big day!
Jack Gallagher - Ring Bearer, Nephew of Groom
My nephew Jack will make the perfect ring-bearer and we are happy to have him join us along with his big sister Emily. Jack loves trucks, matchbox cars, and helping out his Grandpa Jack in the yard. This will be their first of hopefully many trips out to Chicago.
Susan Gallagher - Bridesmaid, sister of Groom
Bob Gallagher - Groomsman, brother-in-law of Groom
Bob and Susie just recently moved with their kids Emily and Jack to Atlanta where Bob specializes in forensic accounting at Price Waterhouse Coopers. The two met while attending Colby college and were married in 1992. I was a groomsman in their wedding back in West Hartford, Connecticut and we are both looking forward to them joining us in Chicago for ours.
Christy Sirianni - Bridesmaid, friend of Bride
Christy and I have been friends for years and years, and grew up together back in Norvelt, PA. We went shopping for school clothes together, always coming home with the same outfits, and had the same haircut growing up - long straight hair with permed bangs, very attractive, or so we thought! We blame our moms for that one! John is still trying to get his hands on those pictures! Christy lives in Clemmons, NC with her husband Jeremy and their two children, Jackson and Kate. We are so happy for you to be here with us on our wedding day - love you!
George Yurcic - Groomsman, friend of Groom
George and I are fraternity brothers back from the Sigma Chi house at Embry-Riddle. We met back in '94 and graduated together in '96 with a lot of great experiences throughout college and thereafter. Looking back, we learned a lot together in a relatively short time from running the chapter as senior officers and what seemed like always being the two handy-men willing to fix whatever was broken with the house at the time. I had the honor of being one of George's Groomsmen in October '05 when he and Holly were married and I am grateful he is able to be part of our wedding as well. George is currently a First Officer on the MD-11 for FedEx and is based out of Anchorage, Alaska.
