Jenée and Joel
April 29, 2017
Events
Sat
Apr 29
2017
Apr 29
2017
5:00 pm
Sausalito
Hotels
Key People
Bridesmaids
Alicia LaChapelle-Friday
Bridesmaid
Alicia was my first friend at Howard. We met in the elevator on the way to chapel, and she will tell you all about the hemp overalls and cowrie shell necklace that I thought constituted appropriate church attire. Also: Her husband Jimmy and Joel played high school football against each other in Houston.
Hana Watkins
Co-Maid of Honor
Hana holds the record for most happy hours and pictures on social media with me. Which is probably why Facebook once told us we were soulmates (sorry, Joel).
saranah holmes
Bridesmaid
Saranah is the only known non-crazy, perfect roommate ever found on Craigslist. I lived with her for almost 7 years!
Valerie A. Young
Bridesmaid
Valerie's secret talent is that she's been formally trained as a voiceover artist. She should probably also do laugh tracks.
Lonnae O'Neal
Bridesmaid
Lonnae is the author of an amazing book on motherhood. After reading it, I stalked her and inserted myself in her life -- and here we are!
Gina Uriarte
Bridesmaid
Gina and I met in preschool and in addition to all of our other history, we have a long tradition of being uncoordinated together. At age 3, we both cried at peewee soccer practice and by 15 we were the worst players on our high school volleyball team.
Sabrina Munnings
Bridesmaid
Sabrina has an awesome job at Facebook but pretty much refuses to use Facebook because she's too busy traveling, going to see live music, and actually enjoying life -- I want to be like her when I grow up.
Katherine Noreen
Co-Maid of Honor
Katherine has developed a Minnesota accent after many years there, but she's still the biggest advocate of the California lifestyle -- in particular, hiking and burritos -- you will ever meet.
Thea Alexander
Bridesmaid
Thea and I have gotten many, many years of enjoyment out of saying yes to people who ask if we're sisters. She will readily admit that she's the mean one and I'm the nice one. She wins in other areas but we're not talking about them because this is MY wedding.
Danielle Allison
Bridesmaid
Danielle and I got through law school together -- including a Boston blizzard during which we were snowed in and survived on pork chops and cinnamon rolls.
Omonigho Ufomata
Bridesmaid
The former Ms. Kentucky State University, she owns over 100 lipsticks (a conservative estimate) -- and actually uses most of them.
Akoto Ofori-Atta
Bridesmaid
Akoto got married in Ghana and didn't mention until we got there that her dad was an actual king, and she'll never live it down.
Flower girl
Kennedy
Flower girl
Kennedy is the daughter of Joel's friend Ed and his wife, Christy. She lives in Austin, Texas and enjoys soccer, reading, and a large selection of hair accessories.
Our parents
Kitty Desmond
Jenee's mom
Miriam Anderson
Joel's mom
Michael Harris
Jenee's dad
Joel Anderson
Joel's dad
Groomsmen
Matt Wamble
Co-Best Man
Matt invited me to his church in the fall of '95, where one Sunday there was to be a musical performance from an exceptionally talented group of four teenage girls. "They're good, dawg," he told me. Yes, they were "good." They were Destiny's Child.
Emerson Jones
Co-Best Man
Emerson doubles as both my very first friend and the very last person to own a water bed.
Steve Baker
Groomsman
We spent about three years speaking to each other exclusively in Pootie Tang ad-libs. Also known as "Bakes," Steve and his lovely wife Cassie (who I unfortunately cropped out of this picture) had their first child in February.
Gene Demby
Groomsman
Everyone thank Gene for this all happening because after I met Jenee for the first time, he was the one whom I reached out to. "Hey, what's up with your girl," I asked him in an e-mail. And dutifully and expedititously, Gene went and found what was up with her.
Broderick Hicks
Groomsman
Broderick is almost certainly the only person on Earth who believes "Dangerous" is as good an album as "Thriller" and "Off The Wall." He also become a father for the first time last month.
Edward Kargbo
Groomsman
Ed once broke a backboard while dunking at Cameron Indoor Stadium during warmups. More recently, he broke Uber in Austin and would much prefer to talk about this.
Steve Martone
Groomsman
Steve, my old high school quarterback, doesn't have any social media accounts. So unfortunately I don't have anything of interest to share about him.
Decker Ngongang
Groomsman
Decker, who shared an old barbell-shaped apartment with me in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, in the fall of 2013 (it literally had no living room), is one of the lesser-known members of the Illuminati.
John Stanton
Groomsman
John is my friend most likely to be recognized in public and surely the nation's foremost expert on the consumption of pork products.
Tony Welch
Groomsman
I don't have many memories of my late Uncle Gary but one of them is of him making fun of Tony trying to eat ribs with a fork.
Officiant
Mark Schoofs
Officiant
Mark is Joel's editor at BuzzFeed News and a great friend and mentor to both of us. He's a wildly accomplished Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, but the reason we asked him to officiate is that he's one of the kindest and best people we know and someone who we both really admire and look up to. He's been certified by the State of California just to perform our ceremony.
Thank you, Mark!
Hosts & Hostesses
Olivia
Hostess
Jenée's cousin
Bo
Host
Jenée's cousin
Hope
Hostess
Joel's cousin
Peter
Host
Joel's cousin
Audrey
Hostess
Jenée's best non-adult friend
Alden
Host
Jenée's godson
Photos
Jenee & Joel
Photos
Gifts