Joel & Alex are married!
Wedding Party
Alexandra Michon Westbrook
Bride
Alexandra grew up in Los Altos, CA. She was on the fourth place state cross country team from Mountain View High School. She received her degree in Chemical-Biological Engineering from MIT and then went onto Cornell for her PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering where she met Joel in 2016. They both moved to the Bay Area: Joel in Nov 2017 to work at Apple in the camera group and Alex in July 2018 to work as a Post Doc at UCSF. Alexandra now works as a Scientist at Recombia Biosciences where she engineers yeast strains to tackle challenges in food, medicine, and energy.
Joel Weiss
Groom
Joel grew up in Longwood, Florida where he loved everything scientific. He received his bachelors in Physics from the University of Florida and then went on to get a PhD in Physics from Cornell where he met Alexandra in 2016. He moved to the Bay Area in Nov 2017 to work for Apple in the camera group. They now live in San Mateo California, half way between their jobs, with their cat Snowball. Joel proposed to Alexandra in May 2020 through a video game that he created. They are both video game aficionados.
Karina Chow
Maid of Honor
Alexandra and Karina met in seventh grade and quickly bonded over their shared love of roleplaying games. Even after they moved to different states for college, Alexandra to Cambridge for MIT and Karina to Pittsburgh for CMU, they kept in touch through games and other common interests. Today their friendship continues to flourish, even when no games are involved!
Micah Weiss
Co-Best Man/Officiant
Micah is Joel’s younger brother. He is married to Margaret and they live in Springfield, Oregon. Micah is a graduate of The University of Florida, both undergrad & graduate school. He works in the Blueberry industry at Fall Creek Farm & Nursery, Inc. He is also a Laser Owner/Operator. Margaret is a Registered Nurse. Micah & Margaret are both trained volunteer search & rescue workers and enjoy all outdoor sports & activities.
Emerald Ferreira-Yang
Bridesmaid
Alexandra and Emi met on Bonfire, their dorm floor at MIT, where they lived together for three years. They loved cooking, biking, and exploring MIT. After graduating they biked through Europe together after which Emi returned to California and Alexandra went off to graduate school. Many years later Alexandra and Emi are back in the same location and enjoy walking and biking around San Francisco together.
Josh Weiss
Co-Best Man
Josh is Joel’s older brother & is married to Sarah. Josh graduated from The University of Florida & George Washington University Law School; he is a Shareholder with the Denver law firm of Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber & Schreck. Sarah is an Assistant US Attorney. Josh & Sarah love to ski, hike & go camping. They live in Denver with their adorable two year old son, Teddy.
Sarai Meyer
Bridesmaid
Alexandra met Sarai in grad school at Cornell, where they bonded over D&D, great food (Sarai is an amazing chef!), and the tribulations of science. After completing her PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell, Sarai moved to Connecticut, where she lives and works with her husband Michael.
Sean Flowers
Groomsman
Sean and Joel met in high school and began their physics journey together, which led them both to the University of Florida. They went to separate grad schools, and Sean ultimately returned to his roots in New York City, but they still play games together online regularly. Sean is also getting married this year!
Ricky Antonia
Groomsman
Ricky and Joel were randomly assigned roommates for their first year of college in the dorms at the University of Florida, and remained roommates for the rest of college. Grad school journeys brought Ricky to North Carolina, where he met his wonderful wife Devika. Ricky and Joel reunited in the bay area, where they both moved after grad school. Ricky and Devika are now expecting their first child!
Jorge Chaves
Groomsman
Jorge and Joel shared an office in their first year of grad school. Though they ultimately worked in different parts of the physical sciences building, they got lunch together most days for the next five years: usually a chicken panini for Joel, usually leftovers from dinner with his wonderful wife Andrea for Jorge. They now live on opposite sides of the country, but catch up regularly, often during new Path of Exile league launches.
Anne Michon Westbrook
Mother of the Bride
Anne is Alexandra's mom. She grew up in Chicopee, Massachusetts and received her S.B. from MIT where she met Scott. They moved to the Bay Area to work and have been married 40 years. Anne worked as a software engineer on mainframes, mini computers, PCs and the internet. She is now retired and loves walking, traveling and organizing trips, home renovations and her daughter's wedding.
Scott Westbrook
Father of the Bride
Scott is Alexandra’s Dad. He grew up on a farm Michigan, then went to MIT where he met Anne. They moved to Silicon Valley to work and have been married 40 years. Scott is an Electrical Engineer. His passion is mentoring the Mountain View High School FIRST robotics team which is one of the top teams in the nation! He also loves biking and getting together with family and friends.
Beth Weiss
Mother of the Groom
Beth is Joel’s mom & is enjoying retirement along with John. Born in Illinois but growing up in Florida, Beth graduated from The University of Florida. She is proud that all 3 sons are fellow-Gators. Beth & John will celebrate 39 years of marriage on June 9, the night before Joel & Alexandra’s wedding.
John Weiss
Father of the Groom
John is Joel’s dad & is enjoying retirement after 45 years in the hospitality industry with HMS Host. He was VP of Starbucks Sales & Development. John grew up in Pennsylvania & graduated from the Culinary Institute of America. He met Beth in Florida and they raised their 3 sons in Longwood, a suburb of Orlando.
Teddy Weiss
Ring Bearer and Flower Child
Teddy is Joel’s two year old nephew who likes Thomas the Train, playing basketball, and cooking. He also loves bubbles, playing musical instruments and making messes!
Snowball
Cat
He's a cat! And as such, he will not be walking down the aisle. He'll probably be enjoying a nice nap.