The Wedding Party

Ashley Anderson: Bride 

Ashley - or as Joe calls her, Ash - grew up in Timonium, MD, but eventually found her way to Pittsburgh, attending Carnegie Mellon University.  While there, the lovely corgi enthusiast kept busy: she met Joe, earned a B.S. in Psychology, and learned how to paint burlap trees.  She currently resides in Rochester, where she is a doctoral candidate in the Brain & Cognitive Sciences department of the University of Rochester.  Despite a seemingly normal outward appearance, Ash has extensive experience being a secret nerd, both professionally, where she studies the the effects of action video games on the visual system, and personally, obsessing about Star Wars, Doctor Who, and more.


Megan de Grouchy: Maid of Honor

Megan is from Baldwin, MD, went to Georgetown, and is now a med student at the University of Rochester Medical Center. As was once explained to our high school English teacher, Megan and Ashley were siamese twins, joined at the hip, separated at birth only to be reunited in high school. And we have been reunited again in Rochester, although med school certainly keeps Meg busy!




Meghan Dwyer Carbine: Bridesmaid

Meghan grew up in 4 different states, ending in Timonium, MD. She went to Misericordia University and is currently an adjunct professor at Towson University. Megs moved next door to Ash the summer before Ash started 6th grade. Despite Ashley's choice to accept a grape popsicle that she clearly hated, they became fast friends. Megs is one of the responsible parties for introducing Ashley to Star Wars and solely responsible for Ash's obsession with Harry Potter during their time together as employees at Zany Brainy. She is also the mother of the adorable little Miss Gwendolyn Carbine (also pictured above).




Erin Dwyer Sears: Bridesmaid

Younger sister of Meghan, Erin also lived all over and found herself in Timonium, MD (pictured at the right with the youngest Dwyer sister, Colleen, in the middle). She attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and is now a Captain in the Air Force, stationed in Monterey, CA. Erin also got past the popsicle incident and was Ashley's carpool buddy for all of highschool. While she is also to blame for Ashley's love of Star Wars, she was the first to show irritation at Ashley's (and Meghan's) impressive level of obsession. In the tradition of her parents, Erin has started quite a menagerie with Chief the dog, Mei Mei the cat, Capt. Adam Sears the husband, and the newest member, Andrew "Ender" Daniel Dwyer Sears.




Rebecca Zajdel: Bridesmaid

 

Somehow, Joe and Becky survived the Penn Hills School District together.  In that time, their relationship constantly alternated between mutual acrimony and  friendship, owing in part to the time Joe bested her in a bizarre quiz-bowl type elementary school contest.  Winter.  Eventually, they settled into a close friendship as Becky headed to Juniata College, where she studied International Politics in an attempt to eventually take over the world, even studying abroad in the Czech Republic (aka Czechland).  Since then, Becky has returned to Pittsburgh (just as Joe was leaving!), spending her time studying at Pitt and working for Reed Smith. 

GROOMFACT: Becky has better taste in beer and knows more about hockey (Go Pens!) than pretty much anyone Joe knows. 

Joseph McDermott: Groom

Joe -- pictured here with his sister Heidi the beagle -- has had many successes starting in Penn Hills, PA. Then he moved on to Carnegie Mellon University for his B.S. in Chemical Engineering and to Penn State for his Ph.D. Now finds himself as a research postdoctoral fellow in the Harvard University Physics department. However, he has not mastered everything... he counts on Ash to help him make to-do lists, to figure out what the lyrics are for the newest song he's learning on the guitar, to entertain him when he's traveling his 25 minute walk to work, and for planning ANYTHING. Getting him to work on this website was like pulling teeth, which probably does not surprise any of his friends and family.


Connor T. O'Malley: Best Man

Connor grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, but we don't hold that against him.  He and Joe met during freshman orientation at Carnegie Mellon, where they both complained about their odd roommates and quickly bonded over their band geek pasts and their love of late-night jazz and South Park.  Eventually, Joe's roommate moved out and Connor moved in, and that was the end of any hope of studious productivity for either of them over the next three and a half years.  In college, they marched in the Kiltie band, hosted some awesome parties, and even directed a student theatre production together.  While they still hope to someday open a consulting business for "basically everything" together, Connor has been biding his time since earning his degree in Mechanical Engineering by working for ATK as an Analysis Engineer , and recently, Corning as a Forming Equipment Engineer, which is way cooler than you can imagine.  Connor has been gracious enough not to taunt Joe about his past five years living in the real world and making actual money, and for that Joe is eternally thankful.  He currently lives with his wife, Chris Warner O'Malley in Corning, NY.
GROOMFACT:  Hey Connor, remember the time?

 


Adam Mayernick: Groomsman

Adam and Joe met in grad school at Penn State, where they were roommates for 4 years.  Adam hailed from Staatsburg, NY and attended college at the University of Rochester (where Ash currently attends).  However, it didn't take long to convert him into a Penn State and Penguins fan.  In the course of those four years, Adam and Joe have done everything in their power to make grad school fun, including tailgates, beer expos,  attending a conference in Germany with some very important people, traveling through Europe, and even drinking absinthe with some rural Austrian high school students in an Irish pub.  True story.  Adam eventually finished his PhD and took a job with Shell in Houston, TX, where he currently lives.  He will be the one singing 'the Bills make me wanna shout' during the reception.
GROOMFACT:  One time Joe and Adam made a salsa so spicy, the Giants beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl.


Philip Schrader: Groomsman

Once upon a time, Joe accepted his admission to CMU a little later than most, and as a result ended up living in non-freshman housing.  Instead, he lived in a building with some very cool sophomores, including Phil, originally from Fairfax, VA.  While his classmates were playing icebreaker games and hanging out in the dorm lounge, Joe was learning all kinds of interesting things from Phil, like the difference between scotch and whiskey, the deliciousness of eel sushi, and how to play Cowboy Face (ask him at the reception!).  Phil got both his Bachelors in Economics and International Relations and his MBA from CMU, and spent some time in industry before getting pulled back into grad school (like we knew he would all along) for his PhD in Operations Research & Management Science at George Washington University.
GROOMFACT: One of the most important lessons Phil ever taught me: "Peer pressure works 100% of the time!"


Andrew Anderson: Groomsman

Andrew (or "Dork" as Ashley usually calls him) has had the extraordinary privilege of growing up as Ash's younger brother. When not needling and pestering his parents or sister, he studies Interior Design at Philadelphia University. He has graciously accepted the role of groomsman and will be Ashley's helper, keeping the other boys in line!