BRIDESMAIDS! and GROOMSPEOPLE!

The Bridesmaids

Cassandra Lynn - This is my baby sister. She is 14, sassy, and plays volleyball. If you are my friend or any of my sister's friends and you happen to be male, you are in no way shape or form allowed to talk with her at my wedding. Cassie has been a ton of help, because the poor girl is the only bridesmaid ever home! Common interests: swimming, ice cream, hip hop music, talking about religion, environment, and fun biology facts

Bethany Grace - This is yet another sister. Bethany will be singing in the wedding and hopefully playing guitar too (I haven't asked her yet though). Bethany and I were roommates at Western. Right now she is a camp counselor in Minnesota at an all girls camp. I am nervous that Kevin and I won't be able to exchange clothes the same way Beth and I did. Common interests: "Don't go breaking my heart" by Kiki Di and Elton John, being crazy, yelling at Molly, and Jennifer Conley





Teresa Marie (Jo) - Teresa might be our most out of town guest. She will be flying in from Morocco, Africa where she is volunteering for the Peace Corp right now. Teresa and I have known each other since third grade. I have a particular memory of us on a playground on a see-saw. I suggested trying to stand up, decided it wasn't that fun, and so I got off (while she was still in the air). Anyway, she has been a huge support system for me throughout highschool and college. Kevin, Teresa, and I are the founders of Pub Crawl 2000. Common interests: Walks downtown, murder mystery parties, reading, and Shakespeare's (did I spell that right?)




Molly Michelle - Another sister! This one is a keeper. Molly is an essential part of this wedding. I never ever act as weird as I do around Molly, something about her just brings it out of me. Molly is ridiculously calm and super fun. She will be going to Michigan State this fall and is interested in pediatrics. Common interests: Tony Hawk, Ella Enchanted, fishing, the ole Louisville slugger, and Lance Armstrong ("that stuff was crazy")



The Groomspeople



Melissa Lynne -This is my eldest sister. Currently, she's representin'' the LIC and living large and in charge in New York City, where she teaches. She likes books and her cat Medea (who wouldn't though, have you seen this chubby cat?). She went to my first concert without a parent with me (Our Lady Peace, May 1998). Common interests: Zelda, Canadian rock, iPods and Chipolte.






Jeffrey Dale - This is my older brother. We share the "middle child" moniker/stigma of our family. We've always shared a bedroom, and have lost more then a few CD's between ourselves. Jeff is currently preparing for an adventure in movie making in good ole' Crestline, OH. Common interests: Loud concerts, Loud CD's, computers, and working in the post production industry.




Katie Lea - Katie "Princess" Lea as she goes by in this family, has been with the family since February of 1985. She is the baby sister, and is allowed the distinction of the first Jones kid to be proposed to (see next groomsperson). Katie has recently graduated from college and is about to begin a new job as a vet tech where she will animals with all sorts of problems. Common interests: Ghost Hunters, bears, Dr. Doolittle 2, Gloria, and ice cream.




Jeremy (AKA Jer-Bear) - The latest addition to our family, Jeremy is Katie's fiance. He's been hanging around for the past 7 years, but made it official over Christmas by asking for Katie's hand in marriage. He currently drives much to far to work everyday and has lots of interesting ideas and opinions. All in all, he's a great dude. Common interests: the Nintendo Wii, video gaming, shenanigans, did I mention the Nintendo Wii?

registries...

For those of you whom like the idea of registries, above you can find ours. Just click on the store logos!

Wa-wa-wee-wa

Guests of our wedding, it is important for you to email us any songs you would like played at the wedding as we will not be having a formal DJ. Bonus for us... we don't have to pay a DJ. Bonus to everyone... no chicken dance, hokey pokey, or celebration. There should be a decent range of music though. Kevin likes rock, alternative, all types of metal and folk, while I like oldies, country, hip hop, classic rock, a little jazz, and a large variety of disney hits.

We are getting so much support from everyone with the wedding and the whole day will be better because of it. We would like to thank Jake Houser. I will have a picture of him up here soon. He will be our wedding minister. We had a chance to meet with him in Kalamazoo last week to describe what we wanted. As long as the weather stays beautiful, our ceremony will be perfect!



Next Jake Zeigler, another mutual friend from Kalamazoo will be our Master of Ceremonies at the reception. His picture is coming soon as well (Help Kevin, I can't log onto myspace). Jake and I met freshman year. Sophomore year our roommates started dating (they are married now). Junior year he had some communication classes with Kevin. Senior year Jenny and I took a history class with Jake based entirely around the singer/songwriter Bob Dylan.

To both Jakes you are a wonderful help! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Important Addresses

Hey everyone. Below are some important addresses that you may need to know...

• First off, this is where the ceremony will be held,
  Gloria's back yard
  691 N. College Rd
  Mason MI, 48854
  
  
• Second, the location of the Reception
  The Cobblestone Events Center
  206 N Mason St
  Mason, MI 48854
  
  
• And Lastly, the Hotel that we have registered our wedding with
  The Holiday Inn South
  6820 S Cedar St
  Lansing, MI 48911
  

Also, you may have noticed that there is now a map at the top of the postings section of the blog. This is an interactive map that you can click on and get more information about the different locations associated with the wedding. Also are links to pre-made driving directions maps that you can print and use for the big day. I've listed the addresses for the different places above for those of you whom would rather use a different map making system other then google maps. Here are a few links to other good ones....

• Mapquest
  
• Yahoo Maps
  

Hotels and Accomodations

For those of you whom are planning on staying in the area the night of our wedding, here is the phone number, address, and area map of the hotel we have reserved for you, our guests.

Holiday Inn South
Address: 6820 S. Cedar, Lansing, MI 48911
Phone: (517) 694-8123



















Be sure to tell them that you are staying with the Jones/Benson Wedding, and they'll hook you up with a room.

For anyone else who doesn't want to stay in this particular hotel,
CLICK HERE for a list of other hotels within the area.

Invitations in the mail and RSVP!

The invitations are being shipped out in the mail, and as such....

You can now RSVP online for our Wedding! It is quick, easy, and fun. As you RSVP, your name will be added to the guest list at the right. Let me know if you do not want your name added to the list. Also, please do not RSVP until you receive your invitation as there are instructions that probably wont make sense until you get the actual invitation. I know it's tempting to RSVP right this second, but please, hold your horses! Thanks!

Invitation Madness

This past weekend was not one for the weak of heart or cutting hands. Couped-up inside Gloria's house we made our wedding invitations, and the pictures that follow document the craziness that was had (and there is still yet more, as we still need to add addresses to all of them).

The invites were quite the multi-media undertaking. All of the text was designed in Photoshop and then printed off onto card stock....



While I did most things Photoshop and computer related (most things), Gloria prepared the ever important return addresses on the back of the envelopes.





While most of the day was spent finalizing print options, buying card stock, and finding stamps, the real work began early in the evening.






Gloria's sisters Molly and Cassie helped us out with the initial assembly of the cards.


Eventually though it became a family affair.






Gloria's Mom, Deb taught Molly the finer points of bow tying, and in turn taught us all a valuable lesson in....well, in bow tying.





Cassie was sassy





eventually the members of the assembly line whom weren't getting married left the factory.





Later we were left with the finished product...






...which you should be receiving in the mail shortly!

Special thanks to Molly, Cassie, Doug and Deb with all the help!