The Associated Press Covered Our Wedding!

Read the article.

Look at the pictures and listen to the audio slideshow. You can also click “captions” to read more about the wedding as you are listening.

Liz’s Letter to the Editor of the Daily Reporter in Spencer, IA

My name is Liz Jones-Dilworth and I grew up in Sioux Rapids. I have lived in Austin, Texas for the past seven years but I very much wanted to get married here to show my new family farming life.

My husband Josh and I were amazed at how pleasant it was to do business here. Teresa Steuben, our caterer, made recipes we suggested and cinnamon rolls that my five-year-old nephew called “the best cake I’ve ever eaten.” Patrick at Hy-Vee Wine and Spirits patiently dealt with our beer snobbery and helped us get suitable kegs. Nelson’s shocked us by selling us Josh’s wedding ring for $500 cheaper than the exact same ring in Austin.

When I was looking to rent microphones and speakers, the businesses I called first cheerfully looked up phone numbers and helped me search. When we got to Carey’s, no one tried to convince us to get the most expensive system. Everyone seemed to know instinctively that we were on a budget and helped us stick to it. Ginny at Hy-Vee didn’t balk at our no-frills approach to flowers and helped us get (and spend) exactly what we wanted.

Since my wedding was on a Sunday morning, I assumed I wouldn’t be able to get my hair done. But Heidi at Bella Via in Okoboji came into work at 9:00 A.M. on her day off to do an amazing job, and she was a calm presence during a busy morning. The Shaws of Shaw Paint Glass and Locksmith brought their ice cream truck to our reception, and delighted Josh and I by giving us a ride around the park in the bargain.

It was wonderful to have a reason to spend so much time in Iowa this spring and summer, and to show off the truly special place I grew up.

Thank you!

View Photos

Liz is trying to keep the wedding photos organized. On the Jonesworth flickr page, check out “Best Of” to see a shorter set of good photos, “Photo Guestbook” to see who was there (mostly), or “All” to see most of the pictures we’ve got (labeled and in order).

If you’ve got other pictures, see below for instructions on posting them to the website.

Post your photos!

First of all, THANK YOU to everyone who took these awesome photos, we’ve got 247 of them up already. If you took photos we’d love it if you added them to our group pool so that we can all view, download and comment on them s a group. Here are the steps:

• First, set up a Flickr account if you don’t already have one. Flickr is free and it is owned by Yahoo! so if you already have a Yahoo! ID or e-mail, it is even easier. This should take you all of :5.
• You can upload your photos one-by-one, but the easiest way is to do it is to download the uploader for Mac or Windows, which allows you to add pics in bulk.
• Once you have uploaded the photos, join the “Jonesworth Wedding” group pool and then drag and drop photos into the pool by clicking on the “Organize” tab.
• Lastly, under your account settings, make sure to change your privacy and permissions to a level at which you feel comfortable. However, we recommend setting “Who can download your stuff?” to “Anyone” so that anyone who was at the wedding can store a local copy of photos that they want to keep.

For those Facebookers among you, it is also possible to link your Flickr and Facebook accounts by going here.

Finally, if you just don’t want to create a Flickr account but still want to post your photos, just let us know and we’ll lend your our login and password. Also, with the free account, you can upload as much as 100MB worth of photos per month, but if for some reason you exceed that limit, our account is the “pro” version and has unlimited uploads and storage so using our login and password would be a good solution in this case too.

Again, many thanks, and enjoy!

Wedding Landmarks

For those of you new to the area, here are a few landmark photos that should help you find you way around.  We’ll continue snapping these leading up to the wedding;)

Also, please remember to join this Flickr group so that we can all share our photos jointly after the weekend.

More Documents;)

Most of this information is already available on the website (see the tabs above), but for those of you who prefer to print things out:

• Places of interest (attractions, restaurants, shopping) Download
• Wedding schedule Download

Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

Why all these maps?

Liz merely wants you to be aware that only a few roads in Iowa go on the diagonal–therefore, there are many alternate routes possible.  It is pretty easy to get oriented in Iowa, so it is possibly worth the trouble to look at an actual map instead of just following directions off of mapquest. At the same time, the Joneses travel these roads frequently and have developed preferences.

Along those lines, if you’re coming from Minneapolis, taking the Highway 86 exit off of I-90 instead of the Highway 71 exit is actually much faster.  Plus it takes you by the wedding site.

On the other hand, it’s arguably more scenic on 71 because you pass several lakes and the river town of Jackson, MN.

Groomsman & Brother-of-the-Bride Will Jones explains how to get to Spencer from Des Moines

Start out on I-35 North.

(As you go North, take a moment to notice Ames, IA, home of the Iowa State Cyclones, alma mater of Liz’s parents, sister, brother, brother-in-law, and countless cousins, aunts, and uncles.)

Take Highway 20 West.

In Fort Dodge, turn north on Highway 169.

Take county road C49 West to avoid towns (and therefore stop signs).

Turn north on Highway 71.

However, Liz says, if you can stand going through a couple of tiny towns, taking Highway 3 instead of C49 would be her preference. There’s a great surprise in Pocahontas–a statue so magnificent, Liz has a poem about it.  Midwestern art at its finest. And you can see it all without even stopping your car.

Jonesworth Wedding Map

Here’s a copy of an actual road map (not mapquest) with some important locations marked. You can print this out; also look for the Iowa Welcome Centers which will give you free maps of the WHOLE STATE!!! (And free popcorn at select locations.) Download the PDF here.

The Onion Covers the Jonesworth Wedding

I’m Sure That Out-Of-Control Water Skier Will Avoid Our Outdoor Wedding

Guest Blogger, Bridesmaid Extraordinaire & Bride-to-Be Lyndsay LeClair Tells You Where To Eat in Minnesota!

I asked Lyndsay, who lives in St. Paul, to suggest some good stopping places between MSP and Spencer. Boy, did she deliver! Check out the helpful websites that she posted also. Notice that all the non-fast food options are in or very close to the Twin Cities. Cracker Barrell is your last chance when driving towards Iowa.

Now, here’s what Lyndsay has to say:

Also Chipotle in Richfield off of 494, (Exit Lyndale Avenue, just before the exit for I-35) as you know, is awesome:
http://www.chipotle.com/restaurants/map.asp?address=&city=Minneapolis&state=MN&zip=

Then there’s Potbelly Sandwich works at the same exit off 494 (Lyndale). They have toasted sub sandwiches (about 5 notches up from Subway), ice cream (!), live music on weekends. Delicious and a nice vibe:
http://www.potbelly.com/searchresultsnew.asp?txtAddr=7644+Lyndale+Ave+S&txtCity=Richfield&txtState=MN&txtZip=55423

Also close by (same exit I think) is a Don Pablos for sit down TexMex and giant Margaritas for those who aren’t driving:
http://donpablos.know-where.com/donpablos/cgi/site?site=00060&address=&design=default&lang=en&mapid=us

I think the Cracker Barrell is good in Lakeville (Exit 85 off I-35). I’ve gone there a lot for brunch and it’s darn good for road food:
http://www.crackerbarrel.com/location.cfm?state=MN

In general, we find that the Albert Lea stop at 35 and I-90 is a nice place with Arby’s, DQ, McDonalds–the usual fast food spread, but also clean gas stations with clean restrooms and easy to navigate on and off the interstate. Oh, and a big ShopKo store for last minute needs. I would also mention that all the rest stops along 90 (especially Blue Earth) are nice for a quick stop and good places to picnic.

The Top of Iowa Welcome center on 35S on your way down to Hwy 18/Mason City is a fun, down home stop too. On weekends you can get fresh popcorn upstairs for like 50 cents or something, there’s a little gift shop and tons of vending machines and clean bathrooms. It looks like a giant barn. It’s the same exit at Diamond Joe Casino which you can clearly see from the road.

Eating on the Road: From Omaha

There are three good stopping places between Omaha and Spencer for eating a meal. All of the places I’m going to tell you about are in sight of the roads you should be taking to get to your destination. I don’t advise going off the highway in search of food in any circumstances–it’s guaranteed that any small-town business worth its salt would be in plain sight of the main road. What you see is ALL you are likely to get.

1st: Missouri Valley. This town is about 30 miles from the Omaha airport. They have several fast food chains directly off the interstate, and some local restaurants on the highway as you drive through town. I have never eaten at any of them, but there’s a few choices. By the time you see the Pizza Hut, you are on your way out of town and there’s no more restaurants for another hour or so.

2nd: Denison. Denison is about at the half-way point. They have a big 24-hour grocery store with a deli called No Frills Grocery. It has a yellow sign with black letters and sits at a major intersection. Possibly your best bet for a balanced meal.

3rd: Early. I saw a lot of cars at the Crossroads Cafe in Early, which is closer to the Spencer end.

Liz’s “I Spy” from Omaha, NE to Sioux Rapids, IA

Wondering how to pass the time on the drive!?  Here’s Liz’s favorite landmarks. See who in your car is the first to spot them. Winners get an extra pork sandwich on Saturday night! ;)

1. The town mottoes of Logan, Iowa and Early, Iowa
2. The little girl with dogs (large two-dimensional object in a field) between Dunlap and Woodbine.
3. The Crawford County Fair Bull in Denison
4. An ethanol plant
5. The chainsaw sculpture of the Sioux Indian chief in Liz’s hometown of Sioux Rapids, Iowa (“in the valley of beauty”)

Extra points for each sighting of trucks carrying windmills (you’ll know them by their wide load and cylinder shape), barn quilts, horse foals. Two extra points for passing a train.

Open Mike!

So, the open mike is a go on Saturday night at the farm.  We’re going to have a couple of microphones & a couple of guitars.  Our friend Nelson (improv comedian) is hosting the show. We also have booked & confirmed the following nationally renowned acts:

Dave Dilworth (father of the groom)

Liz Jones (bride)

Lyndsay LeClair & Mark Neuzil, members of the St. Paul-based band The New Nationals (first cousin & first cousin once-removed of the bride)

Adam Gillette, front man of the former Milwaukee band The Solomon Grundys (first cousin once-removed of the bride)

Hilary Thomas, member of th 1996 Austin Poetry Slam team (former roommate of the bride)

We need some tap-dancing, trained cows, and dramatic monologues to round out the program.

Seriously, any (family friendly) thing goes, including toasts.

Names!

We’re going with the hyphen! As of August 17, we’ll be Liz & Joshua Jones-Dilworth.

Let the name-changing red tape begin!