Emily & Adam's Wedding

Lauren is Emily's (favorite) sister, but their bond goes far beyond genetics.  Summers spent in faraway lands like Charlottesville and Cambridge ensured social isolation from peers and a dependence on each other for entertainment. Growing up Bierman, the two share a love for sea chanties and civil war battle hymns. Today, Lauren teaches 7th, 8th, and 9th grade English in Greenwich, CT, where she lives with her hubby and fellow teacher, Rob. She is the best pun-generator of all-time, and makes a pretty good cocktail, too.

Amanda is one of Emily's best friends from high school. Their adventures have taken them from Iowa (woo running camp!), to Italy, France and Diagon Alley (true story). At the Minnesota Department of Education, Amanda watches out for the kiddos in the Land of 10,000 Lakes and makes sure our tax dollars go to good use. She also has the best taste in music of all of our friends, yet still appreciates a good Aqua sing-a-long. Amanda lives in St. Paul with her boyfriend, Martin, and her dog, Clancy.

Kath is Emily's best friend from college. The two bonded over early Saturday morning long distance runs, (following) late night Taco Bell trips, and many a dance party. Kath lives in New Haven, CT and works as an alumni counselor. Kath can also knit like a boss and has recently perfected the art of calligraphy--a skill you can admire on our invitations ;)

Elizabeth and Emily became best friends in middle school when Elizabeth signed up for NMS track. Elizabeth shares Emily's passions for long-distance running, bad horror movies, and supernatural TV shows. Elizabeth can kick your butt in any athletic competition, but be so darn nice while doing so that you won't even care! Elizabeth puts her amazing artistic skills to use as an art teacher in Rochester, Minnesota. She lives with her husband, Matt, and their ADORABLE daughter, Violet.

Jessica is Adam's sister and the prettiest of the Sonnenfelds (don't tell Matt!). She graduated early from Skidmore College in upstate New York before fleeing the northeast for warmer climates. Jess now lives and works in Los Angeles where she gets to rub shoulders with the Hollywood elite. Like all good Sonnenfelds, Jess loves a good roller-coaster ride, and you can find her on off days making the most of her proximity to Disneyland.  

Violet is the youngest and sweetest member of our bridal party. She turns two years old this August, and her interests include being adorable and breaking hearts with her cuteness. She is the daughter of Elizabeth (see above) and Matt Christensen. We couldn't be more thrilled to have this cutie as a flower girl! 

Brother of the groom, Matthew is Adam's best man and leader of this ragtag gang of groomsmen.  A few years younger, but appreciably taller, Matthew has always played a major role in Adam's life.  While all three lived in New York City, Matthew was able to spend a lot of time getting to know Emily, joining in for Monday fajita nights, runs in Central Park and Long Island, family events, and at least one epic New Years Eve celebration.  Whether it's playing ice hockey, winter hiking, backpacking, or jamming on their guitars, Matthew and Adam find the time to continue their old hobbies.  Matthew recently made the move from Bushwick to Princeton, NJ to live a more suburban life with girlfriend Allie and dog, Jordan.  Since moving he's made major strides in woodworking, building much of his own furniture in between his work as a location sound mixer for film and TV.  

Currently residing in Hawaii, Mark serves as an officer in the US Navy.  Adam and Mark met during their freshman year at Kenyon.  Fellow theater majors and aspiring scotch aficionados, Mark and Adam worked to support each other's projects through school.  They contributed their set-building talents to each other senior theses and spent many hours blasting Meatloaf and hanging lights in the theaters.  Through rugby, ice hockey, Fraternity events, and one-on-one paintball matches in the woods outside the college, Adam and Mark made the most of rural Ohio.  Outside of Gambier, they have backpacked in the Adirondacks, driven from LA to New York, and spent time deep sea fishing off of Long Island.  Mark is working on his MBA at the University of Hawaii in between long shifts on watch.  Adam and Mark are planning a trip to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2017.

Erik and Adam met during pledge week for the Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity at Kenyon during their freshman year.  Twelve years, two coasts, eight(?) amps, and countless broken strings later, Erik remains one of Adam's closest friends and most trusted judge of a good riff.  Their friendship may have started while attempting to break a door off of a junked car with a sledgehammer (if it sounds possible, it is not), but really grew over months of finding numerous shared interests in film, music, theater, and Fraternity politics.  After performing together in a band through college, Adam and Erik set out for LA where they worked in the film industry before they each returned to New York.  Erik's current hobbies are playing the banjo and doing karate while he works in digital advertising, making the world a worse place one ad at a time.  He's unapologetically responsible for all those ads you see on your computer when you're not on our website. 

When not teaching eleven year-olds world history, Rob is a big fan of the ocean, beach, and any water sport such as surfing, skiing, stand up paddling, and sailing.  This past fall he became a little too obsessed with Star Wars.  So much so that his wife, Emily's sister Lauren, discovered that she did not fully understand how strong the Force was with Rob when they got married.  In addition to teaching history in Stamford, CT, Rob is a huge military history buff, and while he and Adam have never had an opportunity to play Risk, it promises to be the defining match of our age.  Rob is soon to be Adam's brother-in-law, and over the past four years they have become close friends while working together to navigate the esoteric traditions of Bierman Family Christmas.  A talented mixologist with a passion for ginger drinks and a good IPA, Rob never fails to have a new drink recipe up his sleeve.  What more could a guy want from a groomsman or future family member?

Self described pizza freak, Travis hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan, and was on Adam and Emily’s hall in McBride during their freshman year of college.  It was early freshman year when Travis drove Emily and Adam to Michigan on a whim (longer story) but all three of them got to know each other in a night that involved midwestern sushi, a new store called Urban Outfitters, and the northern lights.  Adam and Travis were roommates both sophomore and senior year, their epic adventures involved an overnight trip to Disney World, a two-month long production on Adam’s zombie film (which basically replaced sleeping), many rugby and hockey travels, and a long trip into the depths of Mordor.  Travis shares Adam’s love of cartoons, and at least tolerated endless Sam Raimi marathons and middle-of-the-night pitches for short films.  Travis joined Mark, Adam, and Jordan the golden retriever for a road trip across country in 2010, and in 2011 he married Alex Tinsley.  They live together in Michigan where Travis works as a chef.  Adam served a groomsman in their wedding.  This year, Travis hopes to learn how to skateboard.