Wedding Party
Genevieve Jesse
Maid of Honor
Madeleine's best frenemy, this soul sister and real sister has been Madeleine's #1 fan since the beginning and has helped her scare numerous people with their twin-like telepathy. She had it rough growing up in her older sister's shadow, but has more than made up for it by moving to DC to attend graduate school for an International Affairs degree (ask her to read one of her articles or papers at the wedding, you won't be disappointed). While there's a very good chance she will steal the spotlight at the wedding, she will surely be the life of the party. So excited to see her cry during her speech!
Blaine Warden
Best Man
As Joel's older brother, Blaine took the role and ran with it. From getting into shenanigans to helping Joel through life decisions, Blaine has always been quick to impart his wisdom. He's currently living it up in Dallas with his wonderful wife Sydney and 2 crazy puppies.
Nick Jesse
Bridesman
Madeleine's wise older brother, Nick was her first friend and role model for all things cool. She has since wised up and realized he is in no way cool, but still a pretty great role model (even after all of the shenanigans the two got into when they were younger). He let Madeleine follow him to SLU, where the two spent their time plotting against Genevieve and having a super awesome time "studying" together. He is currently living in Nashville with his beautiful, new wife Leah (!!!) and being the greatest OB-GYN resident Vanderbilt has ever seen. Make sure to compliment his dance moves at the wedding and he will be your best friend.
Erin Warden
Groomswoman
The second of four, Erin and Joel always shared the middle child role. Much to the chagrin of the other siblings, Erin and Joel share a therapist career with their parents and very much enjoy long discussions about the shared interest. Erin is also living her best life down in Dallas!
Leah Svingen (Jesse)
Bridesmaid
Madeleine's newest family member, Leah is the weirdest of the bunch. Although, the two share many of these weird qualities, which is probably why they became such fast friends. Leah is always the life of the party, insanely friendly (she will likely have at least 10 new friends by the end of the wedding), and incredibly intelligent (so still not really sure why she married into the Jesse fam). She also lives in Nashville with her average, new husband Nick where she works as one of the greatest psychiatry residents of all time. Expect to see some killer dance moves from her at the wedding.
Renee Warden
Groomswoman
Renee truly embodies what it means to be the youngest child. She was the butt of a majority of the jokes growing up, but has learned to take them with grace. Joel and Renee became great friends during early morning drives to high school and sharing their alma mater at Saint Louis University. Renee is currently attending law school at UMKC to try to finally be able to out argue Joel.
Morgan Borkovec
Bridesmaid
Morgan and Madeleine's friendship blossomed the way the best always do - through terrible workouts (arms by Morgan), "chill" nights on the town that inevitably turned into giant dance parties, and eating. A lot of eating. Madeleine met Morgan her freshman year at SLU and while the two were not immediate besties, by the end of senior year Madeleine had pretty much moved into Morgan's apartment. She is currently working her butt off in Utah, attending PT school and still finding time to adventure almost every weekend.
Creighton Collier
Groomsman
Creighton and Joel have been friends from the get go. Playing basketball together through the majority of their childhood and Creighton being an honorary Catholic just cemented the friendship. Creighton is currently molding young minds while teaching History at Warrensburg Middle School and coaching anything and everything. I love lamp...
Andrea Emsick
Bridesmaid
Andrea is Madeleine's cousin and, more importantly, one of her oldest and closest friends. The two were inseparable from the minute they were born, having sleepovers together almost every weekend. The two bonded over dance parties, elaborate fashion shows, taped news shows, and the best week every summer spent at the family cabin in Okoboji. While the two don't get to see each other as often any more since Andrea is the busiest human in the world working full-time and taking care of her angel of a daughter Melody, Madeleine could not be happier to have Andrea standing by her side on her wedding day.
Kirk Gower
Groomsman
Kirk was one of Joel's first friends at SLU and the friendship grew while spending a glorious semester abroad in Spain. Traveling from Amsterdam to Germany and Portugal to Switzerland Kirk and Joel ran wild through Europe. Kirk is currently living in Nashville pursuing his dream of living where the magic of music happens.
Mia Larsen
Bridesmaid
Madeleine and Mia became fast friends freshman year of high school when they were forced to spend torturous hours running together every afternoon (they thought cross country would be fun... they were very very wrong). Fast forward 9 years and the two are still friends, even after having met under such circumstances. Mia is one of the most fun, spontaneous, laid-back people that exists in this world, which made the many road trips the two shared (with fellow high school friends Abbey and Larissa) the most amazing trips ever. She is currently living it up in San Antonio, making everyone jealous by sending pictures of her hanging out at the pool year-round.
John Ketzner
Groomsman
John and Joel met before freshman year during a scholarship weekend at SLU. Who knew they would end up living in the same building freshman year, travel to Spain during the same semester and then kick ass through PT school together. John is currently living in St. Louis practicing PT and loving it.
Larissa Morehead
Bridesmaid
No one really knows how or why Larissa and Madeleine became friends, but here we are. The two met many moons ago back in 7th grade. They shared many awkward moments together (just look at the picture above for reference), but this only made their friendship stronger. The two have been on more adventures than one could count, but the best was dressing up as Nerds candy one Halloween and being out of control hyper on literally every single road trip they have taken together... and that pretty much tells you all you need to know about this friendship. This rockstar human currently lives in Dallas where she works at a company doing weird, textile-sciencey things.
Andrew Nordyke
Groomsman
Nordyke and Joel began their friendship many years ago on the basketball court. He has been the Champ Kind to Joel's Ron Burgundy through and through. Nordyke is currently living in Des Moines prepping to become the best lawyer the side of the Mississippi.
Aspen Steiner
Bridesmaid
Not the tree or city but Madeleine's best friend (according to her contact name in Madeleine's phone), Aspen was Madeleine's college roommate and partner in crime (don't worry, she still is). While the two could not be more different - Aspen is one of the smartest, most responsible, kindest people Madeleine has ever met - their friendship truly transcends space and time. While they no longer live in the same apartment or city, they still make time to gossip about Joel and frequently send each other ridiculously long updates about each other's lives. She is currently living in St Louis with her adorable dog and new bunny, working as a social media manager for a marketing firm.... and still having frequent laugh attacks.
Andrew Shaul
Groomsman
Shaul and Joel shared many good times through childhood. Mission trips, senior trips, camping and chilling in Joel's basement, there were always memories being made. Shaul is currently living in Warrensburg, working towards PT school.
Abbey Walker
Bridesmaid
Abbey and Madeleine met in high school and while the two have very differing timelines in regards to their friendship, it's safe to say they have finally reached best friend status. This fireball of fun and energy always had some crazy new adventure for the two to go on, usually in her mom's minivan. Unfortunately, they both went their separate ways for college, which is probably for the best since it's doubtful either of them would have graduated otherwise. Thankfully the two have made sure to keep their friendship strong with a lot of brunching, alcohol, and random trips (Mardis Gras 4ever). She currently lives in Chicago working some extremely creative job at Crate & Barrel. Everyone cross their fingers she doesn't try to do a flip at the wedding!
Brian Dytrych
Usher
Brian is Madeleine's cousin and has lived down the street from her for their entire lives. Which meant both of them were forced to hang out far more than either of them wanted to over the years. He also recently befriended Joel for no apparent reason, but here we are. Brian and Madeleine really bonded on a trip to Iceland two summers ago where the trip was almost entirely comprised of waterfalls and drinking. He is currently working up at Field Club for the golf course, having way more fun than doing any actual work. He's pretty much guaranteed to be at the center of any shenanigans that occur at the wedding.
Gillian Emsick
Attendant/Hostess
Gillian and Madeleine had a bit of a rough start to their friendship. Since Gillian was the youngest cousin, Madeleine, Andrea, and Genevieve did everything they could to avoid her (total mean girls move). Thankfully everyone grew up and now Gillian is one of Madeleine's very best friends. She is as wonderful as she is smart and responsible, even helping Madeleine and Joel plan the wedding! The two have also shared many dance parties, fashion shows, etc together and now make sure they see each other as much as they possibly can to reminisce about all of these hilarious memories. She is currently one short year away from graduating with a business degree from Rockhurst University!
Steven Dytrych
Usher
Steven is also Madeleine's cousin and Brian's younger brother. Pretty much ditto everything that was said above in Brian's bio, but Madeleine and Steven really bonded over the years by making fun of Genevieve absolutely whenever they could. He's currently attending UNL and almost finished, woot woot! While Brian will be involved in any wedding shenanigans, it's guaranteed Steven will be the ringleader and will probably be cracking jokes the entirety of the wedding. Can't wait!
Marcie Pagel
Attendant/Hostess
Marcie is one of Madeleine's newer friends, but the two have more than made up for it over the years. They met through their business fraternity in college and then proceeded to travel to Honduras together for a Global Brigades trip, which only served to solidify their friendship. Marcie, like most everyone on this list, is always the life of the party and will surely make friends with probably every single person at the wedding. She is as spunky (aka sassy) as she is sweet and made Madeleine's time at SLU that much brighter. Maybe the two will FINALLY get an actual picture together at the wedding!