Rachel & Nick
Wedding Party
Hannah Romano
Maid of Honor
Hannah is Rachel's younger sister by two years. Hannah recently graduated from Missouri State with her Bachelors degree in Exercise & Movement Science. After graduation, Hannah and her cat, Eloise, moved in with Rachel and Nick. Hannah and Rachel are best friends and the ultimate dynamic duo. Nick and Rachel really enjoy having her as a roommate and seeing her everyday! Hannah works full-time for STLsitter, and she just began a program to become an Occupational Therapist Assistant. She enjoys being a dance teacher, cuddling with Eloise and Tucker, and dancing in her free time.
Sophie Romano
Junior Maid of Honor
Sophie is Rachel's youngest sister. Sophie is 15 years-old and a soon-to-be sophomore in high school. Despite the age difference, Rachel and Sophie have a very special and close relationship. Since Rachel was almost 11 when Sophie was born, she has watched her grow and felt like she helped raise her. Sports keep Sophie very busy. She plays volleyball, basketball, and soccer for high school teams as well as indoor soccer and select soccer. Rachel really enjoys supporting Sophie in anything she does, and she is her number 1 fan.
Ally Romano
Bridesmaid
Ally is Rachel's younger cousin by 1 year. Ally graduated from Mizzou with her nursing degree. She works as a full-time nurse at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis on the Trauma/Neuro ICU floor. Rachel and Ally have grown up together and always been very close. Rachel's favorite family memories have always involved Ally (and the rest of the cousins). Ally enjoys travelling, knitting/crocheting, and puzzles.
Jesse Romano
Bridesmaid
Jesse is Rachel's younger cousin by 5 years. Jesse attends Missouri State University in Springfield, MO and she is majoring in Elementary Education. She is heavily involved in her sorority and youth group, and she is the co-owner of a business that personalizes denim jackets. (Go visit her page on Instagram: sheis_wonderfullymade). Jesse enjoys coffee, spending time with friends and kiddos, babysitting, and being crafty.
Hailey Richter
Bridesmaid
Hailey and Rachel met through their sorority, Zeta Tau Alpha, at UMSL. They became Big/Little during the fall of 2013. They quickly became best friends and moved into a campus apartment together for the 2014-2015 school year. Hailey and Rachel are the type of best friends where they feel like they have known each other their whole lives, and they are their truest selves around each other. Hailey is Rachel's biggest cheerleader. Hailey recently worked as a Foster Care Specialist, but she is returning to school in the fall to pursue her Masters in Education & Teaching. In her free time, she enjoys snuggling with her beautiful cat, Varenna, reading, watching movies, cooking, babysitting for STLsitter, and working with children.
Kelsi Ream
Bridesmaid
Kelsi is Rachel's best friend from UMSL. They actually met for the first time during their senior year in high school. They were in line to attend the Hunger Games midnight premiere and they met through a mutual friend. They knew they would both be attending UMSL in the fall. They immediately joined Greek Life, but through different sororities. They quickly became close and best friends when they became Orientation Leaders for UMSL during the summer of 2014. Kelsi and Rachel spent long days together working, then returned to their dorm and spent the most fun summer nights together with their group of friends. Kelsi got married in June 2016 and asked Rachel to be her maid of honor. Now they enjoy catching up over brunch, drinks, or dinner dates with their best friend, Andrea.
Magin Overkamp
Bridesmaid
Magin is Nick's older sister by 6 years. Magin is an accountant for a large agribusiness company called Bunge. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with friends, going to concerts and sporting events, going camping, being outdoors, practicing yoga, and spending time with her fur pup, Marley. Magin is the older sister that Rachel never had, and she loves our fur-baby Tucker like her own son. Rachel looks up to Magin and enjoys spending all family events with her.
Molly Romano
Junior Bridesmaid
Molly is Rachel's younger 12-year-old cousin. She is a soon-to-be 7th grade student in the Kirkwood School District. She enjoys school plays, dancing, and playing the violin and piano. She loves musicals, reading, Harry Potter, LEGOs, travelling, animals (especially her two cats and pup), and her family and friends.
Jill Romano
Junior Bridesmaid
Jill is Rachel's youngest cousin. She is a soon-to-be 4th grade student in the Kirkwood School District. Jill enjoys reading, crafts, playing with animals, travelling, and collecting gems and rocks. She takes hip-hop, jazz, and acro dance classes, as well as gymnastics. She loves all musicals, especially Hamilton and Wicked. She is involved in a special creative thinking group at school called REACH.
Tucker Lincoln Santoro
Ring Bearer
Tucker is our ring bearer pup. Rachel and Nick adopted Tucker from a local rescue in May 2017 when he was just 10 weeks old. He is an 11-pound mutt mixed with Terrier, Poodle, Lhasa Apso, and Shih Tzu (Yes, we did a DNA test). He is the easiest, best pup we could have ever asked for, and the best one for this duty at the wedding. Tucker puts countless smiles on the everyone's faces in his never-ending attempt to be loved by everyone he encounters. He is everyone's best friend (but mostly ours). We are majorly obsessed with him and could not love him more. Our one and only requirement when researching wedding venues was that our ceremony had to pet-friendly so Tucker could join us.
Nate Barnes
Best Man
Nate has been Nick's best friend since fourth grade. This friendship is built upon a foundation that consists of a shared love for Dulany's hot wings, St. Louis sports, rap music, Chappelle Show, and the late Kobe Bryant. Nate works as an accountant, and likes to workout, watch sports, and play softball in his free time. Nate is the brother that Nick never had and we could not ask for a better person to be the best man for our special day.
Matt Aiello
Groomsman
Matt, or as almost everyone calls him, Aiello, and Nick have been friends since sophomore year in high school and have only gotten closer throughout the years. During Nick's two years at Mizzou, he shared an apartment with Aiello and two other groomsmen, Eric Downey and Erik Howell! Aiello works as engineer, who loves spending his hard-earned money at the casino with his parents and younger brother. Aiello and Nick hangout quite often whether it's staying in and playing video games, going to Fairmount for horse races, seeing a movie, or attending local sporting events. Important Note: Aiello is one of Tucker's "dogfathers".
Bryan Diestelkamp
Groomsman
This friendship is owed to Rachel. Back when Rachel worked at St. Louis Bread Company, she had two great coworkers, Bryan Diestelkamp and Michelle Kondracki. Rachel loved working with these two, so we started to go on double dates together, and we've been doing so for almost 10 years now! Through this, Bryan has become one of Nick's closest friends, so much so that when Bryan and Michelle got married in 2018, Nick was Bryan's best man. Bryan lives in Kirkwood, Missouri and works in finance at Boeing. Bryan enjoys cats, books, craft beer, drums, and yelling at sporting events (mainly St. Louis Blues, STLFC, and St. Louis Ambush games). Bryan and Nick agree on almost everything and love to try new restaurants together. These two have probably gone on more dates than Rachel and Nick.
Erik Howell
Groomsman
While Nick went to junior college for two years, Aiello went to Mizzou straight out of high school, where he was randomly-assigned Erik Howell as his roommate. Aiello and Erik became best friends during these two years, so when Nick and Eric Downey transferred to Mizzou to finish their undergraduate degrees, the four decided to get an apartment together. After two great years in apartment 911, the four boys graduated and moved back home. Despite Erik living in the Lake of the Ozarks, Erik still comes to St. Louis often to see everyone. Erik and Nick have attended many concerts (including Taking Back Sunday five times!) and sporting events together. When Erik isn't in town, the two are almost always texting about the Blues, hockey jerseys, and music.
Zack Santoro
Groomsman
Zack is Nick's cousin who lives in Detroit, Michigan. Growing up, our families would see each other seemingly every year, where Nick and Zack bonded over their love of sports and rap music. Despite not seeing each other as often, the two keep in touch and try to visit each other every couple years. Zack graduated from Michigan State (Go green!) and now works for DTE Energy, a Detroit-based energy company. In his free time, Zack likes listening to music, trying different craft beers, traveling, hiking, and camping. Rachel and Nick are so excited that Zack can fly in and, not only attend the wedding, but be in the wedding party!
Eric Downey
Groomsman
Eric Downey (aka "Downey") and Nick have been friends since freshman year of high school, when the two of them formed a close trio with their late friend, David Bennett. Throughout high school, the three boys had countless hangouts where they would stay up all night playing video games (mostly NBA Live). For Downey's first two years out of high school, he and David went to Lindenwood University - Belleville where the two lived and played tennis together. After Lindenwood, Downey and Nick transferred to Mizzou where they lived with Aiello and Erik. In 2016, Downey married his high school sweetheart, Carolynn. The two are now living together in St. Peters, with their daughter Logan. This upcoming June, the Downeys will be adding another girl to their family!
Andrew Romano
Usher
Andrew is Rachel's younger cousin. Andrew graduated from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) last year with a degree in Computer Management and Information Systems. He currently works as a Systems Engineer. Andrew enjoys seeing live music, technology, video games, and going out with friends. Rachel considers Andrew to be one of the funniest people she knows (along with Nick). Nick and Andrew enjoy many of the same interests, and she has loved seeing them bond so well over the years.
Luke Romano
Usher
Luke is Rachel's youngest male cousin. He recently graduated from high school and plans to attend Missouri S&T in the fall to pursue environmental engineering. He works at a car wash and detailing company part-time. He enjoys video games, computers (he built his own!), working out, and playing tennis.
Mike Weaver
Usher
Mike is Rachel's best friend from UMSL. Mike and Rachel met when they were orientation leaders for UMSL during the summer of 2014. Mike, Rachel, and Kelsi (bridesmaid) were quickly labeled as "inseparable." Mike has been a great support system for Rachel throughout the years and provides comedic relief for all situations that she stresses over. He graduated from Mizzou medical school last year, and he is currently in his second year of residency in Tampa, Florida. He will be a doctor in the Emergency Department. He enjoys watching all kinds of movies (and critiquing them), The Office and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, going out with friends, and video games.