Grand Rapids
This river runs through downtown and gives the city its name.
The Grand River
During high school, he worked at this clothing retailer famous for its beach-inspired image and strong in-store fragrance.
Hollister
This annual soccer video game franchise was rebranded in 2023 as ‘EA Sports FC’ after ending its partnership with this organization.
FIFA
This league, whose name implies ‘first-class’ status, is his go-to European football competition.
Premier League
This religious movement, led by figures like Martin and John, split from the Catholic Church.
Protestant Reformation
This Grand Rapids event invites both professional and amateur artists to display their work across the city.
ArtPrize
Ritz earned his degree in this area of study.
Organizational Communications
This energy drink, often associated with ‘giving you wings,’ was commonly mixed with vodka during late-night FIFA sessions to keep the hype going.
Red Bull
His parents run this ministry organization whose initials match a slang term Ritz uses for close friends.
French African Mission
Ritz earned his bachelor’s degree at this institution, named after a 16th century John.
Calvin College
Growing up in Grand Rapids before becoming president, he remains the only U.S. president buried in the city.
Gerald Ford
Perfecting his Barack Obama impression wasn’t his only brush with politics—while at university, Ritz held this legislative title.
Senator
This brightly colored sports drink -- better known for electrolytes than mixology -- was often used by the groom as a mixer with whiskey.
Gatorade
Known for songs like “Sleepyhead” and “Take a Walk,” this indie pop band inspired the name Ritz gave to our dorm room.
Passion Pit
John Calvin was born in this country, where he initially trained as a lawyer before turning to theology.
France
To show where they’re from without a map, many Michiganders hold up their hand shaped like this item and point to the spot where Grand Rapids sits.
A mitten
Sharing a name with an event in the Olympics, this Washington, D.C. public relations firm was his first job after college.
Javelin
This FIFA attribute measures how fast a player is, and was the most desirable stat when we played in college.
Pace
A sign hung on the groom’s dorm room door borrowed this 3-word slogan from a cracker company that shares his name.
Open for fun
This Swiss city became a major center of the Protestant Reformation after it was transformed under the influence of John Calvin.
Geneva
The “Medical Mile” runs primarily along this street, a major east–west corridor through Grand Rapids.
Michigan St
In chaos theory, this concept describes how small changes can lead to large, unpredictable outcomes, the same name as the company he once worked for.
Butterfly Effect
Players who switch from PlayStation to Xbox often use this control setting so they don’t accidentally pass when they mean to shoot.
Alternate
Part tactical elimination, part Amazon package shape — this was the phrase Ritz yelled in college before occupying the bathroom and making sure no one would walk in and see things they cant unsee.
Kill Box
An acronym summarizing the five points of Calvinism—often linked with Dutch Reformed theology and sharing a name of a famous flower found in the Netherlands.
Tulip