Bridal Party

Elizabeth Stamper- Maid of Honor

Kate and Elizabeth were two peas in a pod growing up at exactly 2 years and six days apart. For years Kate didn't know why none of her friends had joint birthday parties with their siblings. Their childhood was filled with long drives listening to Taylor Swift, constant trips to Sonic and Taco Bell, and busting the speakers in Kate's first car scream singing Les Mis ("The Confrontation" goes hard). Elizabeth is the triple Gemini to Kate's triple Taurus. As two Appalachian ex-pats, they both are liable to gush about their love for Dolly Parton, steamed sandwiches, and the labor rights movement. Truly, Kate would be lost without her constant best friend who is always there to push her to share her emotions and have a little fun! 

Claire Simmons

After spending nearly every summer of their childhoods together, Claire and Kate always thought of themselves more as sisters than as cousins. The days of summer were spent winning every VBS trivia game, having all-night Lord of the Rings movie marathons, and various misadventures on Watts Bar Lake. Claire introduced Kate to the world of indie/folk music thanks to soooo many burned Avett Brothers CDs. You truly never forget the person who discovered Jane Austen adaptations, Doctor Who, and Sephora glitter eyeliner make overs alongside you. 

Ama Stamper

Despite Kate and Elizabeth's many attempts to get their aunt and uncle to name her Padme Amidala, Ama's arrival grew the Stamper cousins to three! Even though Kate clearly did not know how to hold a baby (see below photos for evidence), Ama became a vital part of the next Stamper generation. Many holidays were spent playing the Animal Game, Uno, and whatever new game the cousins had gotten for Christmas. They shared the stage at Jan Lively School of Dance in the production of "Charlotte's Web" for Kate's senior recital. A ten year age gap between the cousins really only means that Kate feels VERY old now that Ama is about to graduate high school! But ten years doesn't stop a High School Musical 2 sing a long!

Lydia Lightner

Lydia and Kate were both on the East Hamilton Sugarcanes Dance Team and spent nearly every afternoon together whether at practice, a game, or listening to Taylor Swift's "RED" on the boombox in the bonus room. One of Kate's proudest accomplishments are the ~artistic~ dance photos they took during a beach vacation. They were known to pass the latest fantasy/dystopian novel back and forth (back then it was the Divergent series and now it's the latest Sarah J Mass). Before long Lydia became another sister in the Stamper family. 

Haylee Eaton

Haylee and Kate met in the Duck River Dance Adult Tap class in Manchester, Tennessee. As Kate joined the local theater company, Millennium Repertory Company (MRC), she desperately needed a strong alto to sing next to and Haylee gladly let Kate sit right within earshot. They shared the stage for Singin' In the Rain, Chicago, and White Christmas with MRC and many annual Duck River Dance recitals. They only missed their entrance for the tap finale once because they were pretending Haylee was shooting down Kate's fighter jet at the beginning of "Sing, Sing, Sing."

Cat of Honor- Finnegan Limbs McGee Stamper

Kate was on an internship in CA in 2019 when she saw a photo of a lost kitty named Finn on a farm in Coffee County. She immediately messaged Jack to go pick this poor boy up even though she was 2000 miles away. The lady who found him said, "he will probably never be a lap cat," and Finn now goes to sleep curled up next to Kate every night. Kate regularly refers to Finn as her "true soulmate" much to Jack's chagrin.  Finn was also the most thanked person in Kate's thesis due to his constant cuddles while she was writing. Along with deleting her Twitter account, getting Finn is the single best thing Kate has ever done for her mental health. 

Groomsmen

Steven Cobourn - Best Man

The groom's brother. 

Ryan Cobourn - Best Man

The groom's brother. 

Owen Stenson 

The groom's brother from another mother.

Ben King 

The groom's brother from another mother.

Sam Thomas

Jack and Sam met in 9th grade and bonded over mutual passions: atheism, the Union cause in the Civil War, and Russian culture. Eventually, Sam roped Jack into being his policy debate partner (on the condition that Jack did not have to do any of the work) - an arrangement which allowed Sam to prepare all manner of absurd and strange arguments. Even though the two have lived on opposite ends of the country for almost a decade, they (alongside the rest of the Table of Knowledge) have remained friends and continue to engage in many hijinks - none of which are appropriate to mention here.

Michael Junker

The groom's brother from another mother.

Matthew Zibelski

The groom's brother from another mother.

Best Cat- Rey Cobourn 

Rey was found in a racoon trap on UTSI's campus during Jack's first semester of grad school. The tiny little baby, weighing in at only 5 lbs, quickly captured Jack's heart and thwarted any chance of her going to the shelter. After her inital vet appointment, the vet recommended that she be kept in the bathroom as to not scare her too much. Rey would have none of that and screamed until she was let out. She promptly snuggled up in Jack's lap and went to sleep. To this day, she is the first to greet any new visitor and demand pets. Despite her clearly not being able to survive in the wild, she still tries to escape from the house daily much to Jack's chagrin.