About the bride

Melanie Sereny grew up in New York, went to college in St. Louis, and now attends graduate school at Duke. She also spent over a year teaching English in Shenzhen and Chongqing China in between undergraduate and graduate school. Melanie is pursuing a Ph.D. in Sociology where her research focuses on demography, aging, and intergenerational relations – specifically within the Chinese context. Melanie is an avid watcher of reality television. She also enjoys reading novels, singing, dancing, and traveling. Her favorite foods are popcorn, stuffing, pizza (New York style), bagels, ice cream, and nachos. She also loves salt and cola.

About the groom

Jonathan Brasher is a man's man, a man about town, a man of the world. He was born in Texas, was raised in Arkansas (among other parts of Dixie), went to school in the Northeast (MIT), went to work in the Far East (PRC), and that's where he fell for a Yankee, of all people. He has seen an eclipse in Turkey and read of arhats in Chinese. He became a Master of Arts in DC and is now a worker of sorts in NC. If you have yet to meet him, he would very much like to shake your hand. And if you already know him, he would very much like to raise his glass with you.

And he likes hockey. Go Bruins!