Leland and Thomas met in first grade at Cold Spring School, where Leland claimed he was an FBI agent.  Although this turned out to be a lie (or maybe just deep cover), they remained friends as they attended school together for the next 12 years.  They share a love of the New York Times culture pages but not of roller coasters.  Leland is an associate at McKinsey in San Francisco.

Sam is Matthew's brother.  They spent their childhood together playing card games, skiing, frolicking with their dogs, and engaging in obligatory sibling squabbles.  Among Sam’s many admirable qualities, Matthew particularly values him for his easygoing nature, empathy, and sense of humor (indeed, Sam once declared that he intended to be “a comedy” when he grew up).  Sam is now an actor, playwright, and waiter in New York City.

Porter and Thomas met in their freshman year at Princeton, when they were some of the few students who would awake in time for breakfast.   Porter is the only friend of Thomas's on whose floor his parents have been willing to sleep, when she graciously hosted them in Edinburgh.  Porter is currently a PhD candidate in English literature at Harvard University.

Anna and Matthew lived next door to each other as college freshmen.  As they commiserated over learning challenging languages (Anna studied Russian while Matthew struggled with Mandarin), their friendship budded, and it flourished through the rest of college and during frequent visits in the years after they graduated.  Anna is a sculptor and secondary school art teacher in New York City.

Victor and Thomas met in their freshman year at Princeton, when they both lived in Edwards Hall.  A core group from that dorm has continued to gather regularly, including Thomas's other senior year roommates, Matt Solomon and Peter Combs.  Victor was chosen to represent their room as he is the only roommate under 6' 5", and the rest of the wedding party would rather not look like midgets.  Victor is the father of newborn twins and works at SendGrid in Denver.

Helen and Thomas met in their sophomore year at Princeton, where they bonded over a love of film, especially of the avant-garde variety accompanied by live raspberry eating and recorder music.  Matthew met Helen a few short months later, and they found unexpected common ground in their enthusiasm for Joan Jett.  Helen is a screenwriter whose credits include Hawaii Five-0, Hannibal, and several independent short films.

Ted and Matthew were law school classmates.  Their friendship formed over countless games of whist (the world's best social card game) and while using each other as recipe guinea pigs in weekly cooking escapades. An avid hiker and all-around outdoorsman, Ted is a law clerk to the Honorable Marjorie Allard of the Alaska Court of Appeals in Anchorage.

Liz and Matthew befriended each other in college as members of the Colonial eating club (so named for the architecture of its building, not its members' geopolitical philosophies).  They share a love for Jane Austen, the fruit of the vine, and all things orange.  Liz is a PhD candidate in epidemiology at the Rutgers University School of Public Health.