The Ladies

Heather Hoecker, Maid of Honor

Heather and Katherine met as soon as they arrived at Carleton College, as teammates on the Carleton Cross Country team. They bonded throughout the year over long runs, towel costumes, and their mutual interest in mental health. Heather is Katherine’s best friend of all time and the only person other than Ricardo and her family members to survive living with Katherine’s not-so-clean self for 3 full years. She is currently working on her joint MPH/PA degree in Hotlanta, GA, and although they no longer share the same apartment, Heather is still Katherine’s go-to source for life wisdom. They share an inexplicable connection that is occasionally captured in candid photos and matching outfits.

Caroline Church, Bridesmaid

Caroline and Katherine have also been friends since their first week at Carleton College. They ran track and cross country together for 4 years, lived together for a year (also with Heather, in an apartment that wasn’t really made for 3 people and led to some creative furnishings…), and after several years living on different sides of the country, are now close enough together for weekend visits. Caroline works in college access, helping low-income students get into college. Katherine and Caroline have stayed close through all of life’s ups and downs and share a love for sneaking vegetables into baked goods.

Ashley Walsh, Beth Wittry, Teal Jensen, Bridesmaids

Ashley, Beth and Teal are Katherine’s closest friends from middle & high school. They survived the most awkward years together playing soccer, waterskiing and laughing at themselves.

Katherine loves Ashley for her ability to tell it like it is and her sense of humor in all situations, including some serious wardrobe malfunctions at Ashley’s wedding last year:) Katherine is excited to have her as a bridesmaid, knowing that she’ll make any unexpected wedding day events seem like a hilarious bonus. Ashley just finished an accelerated nursing school program and is living in Virginia with her husband, Rhett.

Some of Katherine’s best memories with Beth involve exhausted/sweaty hugs after one of them broke a personal record on the track, or when they did so together in the 4x400meter relay. Beth opened Katherine’s eyes to the field of public health, and makes sure that Katherine’s granny-like tendencies don’t keep her from having a good time. Beth studied public health and travels the country inspecting cruise ships to prevent disease outbreaks.

Teal and Katherine have stayed close through the different twists and turns their lives have taken since the days of fighting over the last bite of mud pie at Teal’s dad’s restaurant back in high school. Teal and Katherine (along with most 8-yr-old boys) share a a similar sense of humor, and Teal has always been someone Katherine can laugh with about crazy life experiences. Teal lives in San Diego, works as a nurse at UCSD, and will be getting married to her fiancé Jordan just 6 weeks after Katherine and Ricardo.

Carolina Pizarro, Bridesmaid

Carolina (not to be confused with Caroline) is Ricardo’s older sister. Ricardo was living with Carolina when Katherine and Ricardo started dating, so Katherine got to know her right away. Her delicious pebre (chilean salsa), welcoming attitude, and beautiful children were all influential in Katherine sticking around with the Pizarro clan. Carolina lives in Paraguay with her husband, Pancho, and their 3 kids: Mateo, Carlota, and Julieta. She works as a consultant for the World Bank, as well as being an incredible mother (Katherine and Ricardo have learned some useful parenting skills from her that they hope to put to use some day!).

The Men

Nicolas Janes, Best Man

Nick Janes! Nick and Rick grew up together in the pleasant dull suburb of North Potomac, but the two tried making things a bit more interesting with great conversations about everything and nothing. Nicolai currently lives in Baltimore, MD and works at the Outward Bound Office helping the troubled youth of America with camping and hiking adventures. Nick and Ricardo have also had some of their own camping and hiking adventures across the globe, including a 6-month trip to South America: Uuuuuuuuuuiiiiiiiiiii. Nick is undeniably Ricardo’s best friend for almost 20 years now and was considered a brother right away.

Gonzalo Pizarro, Groomsman

“La gallada no le importa y deja la cerveza en cualquer lado.” Gonzalo Pizarro is Ricardo’s older brother (2nd in line) and lives in Takoma Park, MD with his wife Dianna and their two beautiful girls: Olivia and Lucia. He is working at Wells Fargo and has also lived all over the place. Ricardo and Gonzalo had some fun trips together, including one in Spain, when Gonzalo was living in Barcelona. When they’re together these two don’t need much before they’re laughing uncontrollably about the simplest, dumbest things. Gonzalo influenced Ricardo a great deal growing up, especially in futbol, musica, asados, and life.

Manuel A. Pizarro, Groomsman

Manuel Alejandro Pizarro is Ricardo’s oldest brother but is not to be confused with their father Manuel Eduardo Pizarro. Please, these two guys are completely different and look nothing alike 🙂 Manolo currently lives in Santiago with his wife Pamela Osorio and is the head honcho at Sanitec, Ltd. He is incredibly easy to talk to about anything on your mind and is very passionate about our family. At times Ricardo and Nolo go months without talking but as soon as they do it’s as if nothing has changed and they had simply talked the day before. Buuuuuuuuu?????

James Wingert, Groomsman

James (aka Jim, Jamie, the Jimboroo-man) Wingert is Katherine’s older brother and loves cycling, beers, MAGIC cards, and physics. He just finished the first year of a PhD program in Physics over at the excellent UCSD. Prior to starting his PhD, he lived in Oakland/Berkeley where he dedicated his time and effort to cycling and met his lover-girl Alison. Ricardo loves spending time in San Diego conversing with Jim about beers, music and sports, and teasing “Kaki-Sqwaken-Paliwaken”.

Omar Ohrens, Groomsman

“Aqui estoy po’ hueon!” Omar “Efecto Maximo” Ohrens aka “the Godfather” and Ricardo met in Madison, where the two are working on their PhD degrees. They immediately clicked over musica, futbol, and pigins. In Madison, the two pretend to play soccer together in Have Fun FC, a full sized 11×11 team of bums that competes in a local city league. Off the field, you can find Omar and Ricardo going to check out live music around town. Omar is married to Isabel Rojas and they have a beautiful baby girl: Aymara. Watch for this couple as they share some of their musical talents with us during the ceremony.

Ishmael Amarreh, Officiant

Ishmael, aka “Amigos” aka “il Bastardo!” and Ricardo met in the Applied Neuro MRI lab, doing brain research for their PhD program. In the spirit of research, the two traveled between two scientific conferences located in Melbourne and Beijing and visited 9 different countries. Here to the left, Ish is happy to have found a nice bike in Gili Island in Indonesia (where Ish, drinking a beer, proctored Ricardo’s Neuroanatomy Exam: Are you done yet??? No, hold on!).  Katherine got to know Ish before leaving Madison to do her Master’s degree and felt good leaving Ricardo in his hands while she was away. When Katherine returned to Madison, she and Ish bonded over Ethiopian food and handshakes. At first, Ish can seem to be quite the goofball, but once you get to know him, he is a caring and sensitive human being with a great deal of wisdom about love and relationships, which is why we asked him to officiate our wedding ceremony (he also loves public speaking)!

The Tiny People

Mateo, Olivia, Carlota, Lucia, and Julieta
Mateo, Carlota, and Julieta are children of Francisco (Pancho) and Carolina while Olivia and Lucia are Gonzalo and Dianna’s girls. Because of his involvement in luring Katherine, Mateo will be the ring-bearer to make sure these two get married. Katherine will definitely be well taken care of when she walks down the aisle as Olivia will be the lead flower girl and will be assisted by her cousin Carlota and her younger sister Lucia, if able 🙂 . Julieta will look the part but may not be too much assistance with the flower throwing.