Rachel & Marc
Wedding Party
Gianni Valsecchi
Best Man
With over 25 years of friendship, Gianni and I met when we were six years old when I moved in across the street in Justice, IL. Gianni was born and raised in Chicago and works as an EMT and Firefighter for the Chicago Fire Department. He recently got married to his wife, Anna and enjoys cheering on the Chicago White Sox, hanging out with friends and family, and using his culinary background to cook up some amazing food. Gianni will always be my best friend and brother, makes sense that he is my best man at my wedding to marry my best woman.
Lisa Clark
Matron of Honor
My Aunt Lisa has always been there for me through happy and hard life experiences. Through her service to others, her love for animals and being a kind-hearted Christian and wife, she has always been a positive role model I look to follow. I will always remember playing with her dog, Jessie, and her many cats growing up even though I was allergic. I have enjoyed how our relationship has evolved over the years and look forward to continuing to grow closer in the years ahead. As I look ahead to my wedding, I am excited to have her by my side as I marry my best friend.
Walter Salinas
Groomsman
Walter and I met in Home Economics class at Robinson High School. I was a sophomore and Walter was a Senior but our interests and friendship grew. We share interests in cars, music and traveling. While distance has kept us apart more than we would have like, Walter is the brother I never had. He was always there during good times and bad. Walter always makes me laugh. Good times on road trips to "R Kansas" on the way to Chicago and continues to teach me new things all the time. Walter still lives in Texas but the miles do not deter our friendship. I am honored to have Walter stand by my side as I marry my best friend.
Ewa Kowalkowska
Bridesmaid
Ewa and Rachel first met in Chicago during a winter vacation. Marc want to make sure a Texas girl could handle the Midwest cold (She did!). After moving to Chicago, their friendship only grew through quality time and fun adventures together. They bond over food, animals and traveling whenever they can. Over the years, Ewa has become one of Rachel's closest friends and they continue to grow in life experiences. I will always cherish our friendship and am excited to have her stand with me as I marry my best friend, Marc.
Trent Hennigan
Groomsman
Trent and I met through our mutual friend, Walter. Our friendship grew after high school as we both worked at O' Reilly's. Trent, the more serious of the trio, is always available to have serious conversations. We share interests in music, disc golf, home projects and famous late-night cruises for Wendy's parfaits. Trent has always had a strong work ethic and we shared the joys of remodeling at his first house. We have worked on cars and always come together when it comes to family values and morals in life. I look forward to having Trent stand with me and provide support for me at my wedding.
Lisa Hendrix
Bridesmaid
Growing up as an only child, the bond of a sister was new to me. Marc has not 1 but 5 sisters. Throughout the years, Lisa is the sister I never knew needed in my life. She accepted me into her family, and we have confided in each other and had each other’s back. We have been on many fun adventures together in Chicago, Texas, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and many more to come. We even witnessed a calf being born on a farm outing, traumatizing for Marc, of course. I had the honor of watching her oldest daughter get married. I cannot imagine her anywhere except by my side as I marry her brother. When I called her after Marc first proposed, her first response was “can I officially call you my sister now?”. I look forward to our future adventures and having her in my life as my sister forever.
Kyle Brown
Groomsman
Kyle and I met while working at O'Reillys many years ago. We met through our mutual friend, Walter, and have been good friends ever since. From the start of our friendship, Kyle has treated me like family and even invited me to his epic family reunions. As the jokester of our group, Kyle always knows how to lighten the mood after a hard day. Kyle is a nurse and currently travels throughout the United States to different hospitals. We have enjoyed many fun times together in Texas and showing him around my hometown of Chicago. While distance has kept us apart in most recent years, I look forward to Kyle standing with me as I marry the love of my life.
Ania Kowalkowska
Bridesmaid
Ania and Rachel’s friendship has continued to grow since they met over 7 years ago. Although living in different states made it hard to get together, they can count on each other for anything. Ania has an amazing heart and is the definition of service. Rachel and Ania both share a passion for serving others through their careers and volunteering in the community. She is currently completing her nursing degree at DePaul University. Now that Ania is back in Chicago, I look forward to continuing to make future memories together and am excited to have her by my side as I take this next step in life with Marc.
Gabriel Rodriguez
Groomsman
Born and raised in Waco, Texas, Gabriel, is my first nephew. I have always thought of him as my little brother. I have guided him to strive to be an out-of-the-box thinker and challenged him to grow in his love of music and artistic abilities. For fun, we played electronics and video games like Need for speed and Mario Brothers, however, we enjoyed the engineering of setting the games up before we played them. I took great pride in watching Gabriel grow up in to the man he is today. I look forward to bringing him into my wedding and continue to grow our friendship as he becomes an adult.
Nicole Mitchell
Bridesmaid
Nicole is one of Rachel’s close friends. Our friendship has developed quickly through quick trips to Bradley and many double dates. She is a caring wife to Josh Mitchell and mother to two sweet kids, Ryland (8) and Catalina (almost 1 year old). We have enjoyed many adventures together from dinners, escape room and bar crawls to stay-cations watching movies with the kids. Don’t forget our “this is not where I parked my car” adventure getting off the party bus for Josh’s birthday. I am lucky to have Nicole as a close friend and look forward to having countless adventures together both as a couple and just the girls. As Nicole stands by me, Marc and I are excited to continue growing our friendship and having her in our family.