Allyson & Matthew
Wedding Party
Sarah Akutagawa
Matron of Honor, Older sister of the bride
In this photo: In college, I had a flour fight for one of my birthdays. I invited my friends to wear all black, bring a bag of flour, and chase each other around on campus. Sarah brought water and turned me into a dough ball. Fun fact: When Sarah is not being a troll, she is generally a voice of reason in my life. One time, I told Sarah that I was pretty sure I could run 15mph. She then made me get out of the Honda Odyssey and drove 15mph as I ran next to her to show me how wrong I was. Now, I know that I cannot run 15mph.
Timothy Litrus
Brother of Groom
In this photo: Timothy won our family a free trip to Disney World when I was in the first grade! We even got matching T-shirts. Fun fact: I've been an employee of Timothy's for practically my entire life. I started out by doing odd jobs like being his chair or bringing snacks to him while he played video games, but eventually worked my way up to being his chauffer whenever I visit him in Los Angeles. We share a love of burritos from Amigos Grill in San Mateo.
Cheny Ng
Bridesmaid, college friend of the bride
In this photo: Cheny and I found this amazing collection of Tsum Tsums at the Washington State Fair, while visiting our friend, Andrew! This was also not the first time stumbling upon Tsums caused us both to end up on the floor screaming and laughing uncontrollably. Fun fact: On my way home from an early date with Matt, I got in a very minor car accident, which I interpreted as an omen for my future with Matt. Cheny gently helped me to see that this did not make any sense. Then, while on the topic of cars, she told me that the reason why the green onions in her kimchi fried rice were shredded so well was because she accidentally ran over them with her car.
Bryan Hwang
Groomsman
In this photo: At the SD Zoo (had to crop out a zebra) Fun fact: Bryan and I first met in fifth grade when he still had a Beauty and the Beast lunchbox (he denies it, but it's true). The only school activity we volunteered for was to help the lunch lady pass out food so we could get free leftover taco pockets and rib sandwiches.
Erica Vilay
Bridesmaid, college friend of the bride
In this photo: Erica and I can be seen doing what we do best, which is to lay around and do nothing for as long as we want! Fun fact: Before my parents were allowed to meet Matt, they tried to ask me non-leading questions about him like, "Who is Matt more like, [Sarah's husband] or [Sarah's ex-boyfriend]?" I told them he was neither (diplomatic non-answer) but that he reminded me most of Erica. Both Erica and Matt are fun to be around and so easy-going that you can talk to them about anything. Coincidentally, Erica also married a guy named Matt, who, like Matt, also majored in math and taught community college.
Gannon Shih
Groomsman
In this photo: Backpacking to Thousand Island Lakes! Fun fact: In sixth grade, I had a math/science teacher that gave long lists of very hard math/logic problems to do for fun. If you did 100 over the school year, you were inducted into the Einstein club. By the end of the year, I barely did 100. Gannon did 300. He was a triple-Einstein club legend.
Erika Cui
Bridesmaid, cousin of the bride
In this photo: Because we are cousins born three weeks apart, our parents made us do everything together from a very young age: volleyball camps, getting razor scooters, and, in this case, holding hands while walking barefoot on the beach. This one is from one of our summer family camping trips to Big Sur, at Pfeiffer Beach. Fun fact: When we were in high school, our idea of a good way to celebrate New Years' Eve was to order black sweatshirts for all of our cousins, screen-print the Chinese character for our family name on the front, and hand-stitch all of our cousins' first names on the back. It took basically all night. Also, none of our cousins wore the sweatshirts when we finished.
Robert Rivera
Groomsman
In this photo: Ice fishing while Robert was in medical school in Milwaukee. Fun fact: Robert once insisted that we make a pilgrimage to Philadelphia to find the greatest cheesesteak in the world. From New York, we took a $5 2 hour bus ride, then another 40 minute local bus ride to the highest rated joint in the city. After taking the first bite, Robert's first words were "it just needs some mayo." In retrospect, it was one of the most disappointing sandwiches we had ever had.
Kelsi Macklin
Bridesmaid, college friend of the bride
In this photo: Kelsi and I met in college and almost instantly became each other's venting partner for everything wrong in the world and wrong with the people we love to hate. (Don't worry, none of you!) We've calmed down a bit since college, though, and now we mostly just eat Asian food and rice krispies together. Fun fact: Kelsi also got married a few months ago, which was when I learned that her grandmother is a nationally ranked pickleball champion!! Somehow, Kelsi failed to mention this to me earlier.
Wesley Ha
Groomsman
In this photo: On the overlook to the Devil's punchbowl near LA. Fun fact: Wesley is one day younger than me, about half a centimeter shorter than me (unverified) and probably 15 pounds lighter. Wesley is a master of games (think Yugi from Yu-gi-oh!), is a prolific binge watcher and snacker. Though we are both tall, we are equally bad at basketball, although I am slightly better (unverified).
Zoe Tamaki
Bridesmaid, college friend of the bride
In this photo: We did a service project in New Orleans together back when we hardly even knew each other! The photo I wanted to include of Zoe and me is when we organized a voter information night in my college apartment and squeezed 40+ people in my living room, but you can hardly see our faces in that one, so this one will have to do. Fun fact: Zoe is one of the most supportive people I know. In college, when I told her I wanted to be on the Sign Team at Trader Joe's (the team that handwrites all of their signs), she set up an informational interview with her uncle, a Trader Joe's manager himself, drove me to his house, and rooted for me throughout the whole process. Tragically, I was rejected by Trader Joe.
Kota Akutagawa
Bubble Boy, Nephew of the Bride
In the three years I've known Kota, he has been interested in balls, dump trucks, moons, road signs, double decker buses, endangered and extinct animals, and twins, among other things. Nobody knows what Kota will be into come March, but we should all pray that he develops a strong desire to walk down the aisle on his own!