an aggregate of all things Johnson

Before I forget all of the details, I wanted to write down everything about Adam and Nina’s wedding. It was such a great day! So sunny and warm!

Nina and Adam met in med school at KU. They both graduate in about three weeks and planned their wedding and honeymoon to correspond with their move to Portland, Oregon, for their residencies. A killer busy time, but very exciting!

Adam and Nina were married on Friday, April 29th — same as the royal couple, but they picked the date first!

In the morning, I went to get my hair done with Nina and the other bridesmaids. Nina seemed to be in an awesome mood (which is more than I can say for myself at my wedding day hair appointment) and all of the hair-dos seemed to go smoothly. (I had wanted something similar to this and my sweet hairdresser got it reasonably close.) Nina was wearing her hair down, so it was set in curls and then pinned up while we traveled to the hotel to eat lunch, change, and do our makeup. The photographer met us at the hotel and took some “backstage” shots while we got ready.

We left Nina and Adam alone with the photographer to get their “first look” shots and then we all traveled to Loose Park to take wedding party photos in the Rose Garden. The outside photos are going to be spectacular! Even the quick ones I snapped with my crappy little camera look fabulous. It was really windy, which was a bit annoying, but I know that there are going to be some awesome shots of Nina’s veil blowing in the wind. Both the bride and groom looked great, but I don’t think Adam will mind me saying that Nina was especially breathtaking.

I had a lot of fun with the picture taking — as evidenced here — but soon we had to head over to Studio B, the ceremony location. It was slightly hectic getting ready for the ceremony. A few key people were a little late, some of the ceremony procedure had to be ironed out… but it all worked out perfectly.

There was a quick ceremony before the official Persian ceremony by a representative from city hall. Nina had arranged the preliminary ceremony just to make 100% sure that everything was totally legal. Their Persian officiant was from Texas and not technically recognized by the state of Missouri. The preliminary ceremony was actually really sweet. The wedding party got to gather around and witness as they exchanged vows. Then, we all lined up for our processional into the main room for the Persian Ceremony with all of the guests.

Adam and Nina had a traditional Persian wedding ceremony. It was very pretty and fascinating. Nina wrote the following info about the ceremony for the programs:

A traditional Persian ceremony is centered around a spread called the Sofreh Aghd (seen in the photo above).  Every item on the Sofreh Aghd symbolizes different qualities that the couple hopes to bring into their new life.

When the ceremony comes to an end, the couple exchanges a taste of honey to represent the first taste of a happy new life.

I was so thrilled to be part of the wedding party. I got to help hold a pretty cloth over Adam and Nina during the ceremony and grind some of the sugar on top. The officiant was a lot of fun and made the ceremony personal. Adam used my grandfather’s ring as his wedding band and the officiant asked my grandmother about its provenance during the ceremony — my grandfather wore the ring non-stop for 54 years! Very Special!

After the ceremony, we all headed over to the Berg Event Space for the reception. The venue, an urban loft, is really pretty with exposed beams, big windows, and wood floors. My Mom and Dad and my sister-in-law, Amber, had done all of the table and decoration set-up earlier in the day and everything was lovely.

The reception was just total fun. The food was great, Persian dishes with rice, plus an amazing three-tier cake made by Nina’s aunt, and there was lots of music and dancing. I wish I could have danced more, but I spent most of the night socializing and talking with family and friends. I also snuck out with my brothers and a few cousins to decorate the happy couple’s getaway car. We had a good time.

It was a really full day, but I just let myself relax and enjoy it. (That is much easier to do when you aren’t the bride!) It was wonderful to be with my parents and brothers. They each really stepped up and did a lot of work to make sure the day ran smoothly. My brothers (and sisters-in-law) are really my favorite people in the world. It is odd that they are all adults now with skills and interests that I know little about, but I love them more than ever. My only regret from the night was that I didn’t get to spend more time with Adam and Nina. Understandably, they had a lot of people to meet and greet and the night flew by, but now they are off in Greece on their honeymoon and then they will be off in Portland starting their life together. I may not get to hang out with them for a while …gosh… I guess this is a glimpse of what parents feel!

Travis’ dad took some video during the night and he put together this cute “movie trailer” — I can’t wait to see the full video! Also, here is the link to my Nina & Adam Wedding Flickr Photo Set one more time.

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As nearly everyone knows, the wedding of the century is tomorrow — the wedding of my brother, Adam, to my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Nina, in Kansas City.

I’ve been helping with some of the paper goods, like invitations and programs. Last night the programs were finished up with the help of my family and Travis’ family. We cut the pages, punched holes, and threaded and tied ribbon.

For posterity I recorded this transcript of the night’s action:

After pizza and soda provided by the groom and his best man, we gather around the table to get to work…

Adam: “Let’s knock these out!”
Rachel: “Make sure you tie the knot so that the tails fall downward.”
Mom: “Rachel, you are crazy. These holes are too small. There are too many pages.”
Isabella: “How can I help?
Aaron: “Ugh. My back hurts. My fingers hurt.”
Rachel: “You guys, I can finish all these tonight. Don’t worry.”
Amber: Quietly working hard punching holes.
Chelsea: “This is so fun!!!”
Scott: Playing a computer game…
June: “Guess which page I cut? Anyone want cake?”
Libby: “This chair is too hard. I need a cushion for my bottom.”
Brad: “Have you seen my new phone? It’s better than the iPhone.”
Travis: On an airplane…
Adam: “This hole puncher is killing my hand!”
Rachel: “I think you all have underestimated the difficulty of graphic design work.”
Chelsea: “Adam, be careful. If you get hurt you won’t be able to do anything on the honeymoon.”
Adam: “Woah, Chelsea!”
Chelsea: “I mean, like skydiving!”
Libby: “This is taking forever.”
Rachel: “It is going much faster than I expected.”
June: “You guys are almost done. Only three more stacks. Let me bring more over.”
Chelsea: “I tied the 182nd bow!!”
Isabella: “Oooo! How did all this ribbon get on the floor?!”
Rachel: “Done! And it is only 7 pm!”
Chelsea: “It’s only 7?”
Amber: “It is 21:00.”
Scott: “It is 9 pm.”
Seth: Arriving after all of the programs are done… “I’m here to help!”

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I’ve been reading this great, new-to-me blog called Scoutie Girl and today it is hosting a “We Scout Wednesday: Weddings” theme. The blog author, Tara, wrote about her totally laid back and completely sweet wedding in 2007. Her post was super-cute and honest, and it inspired me to play along….

Travis and I were married almost seven years ago… it doesn’t seem very long, but man, what a difference those seven years have made in technology. All of our official photos were analog, taken on 3 1/4″ negatives that are now stored somewhere at my sweet and understanding mother-in-law’s house. The few photos that I do have in digital form were taken by my cousin, Matt, who is an excellent photographer – so I guess, I really came out with the best of both worlds.

Thinking back on the wedding, I am just overwhelmed by how much work my friends and family did for me (and Travis) for the event. At the time, I was really caught up in the planning and I was trying to do “it all” myself. I was obsessed with Martha Stewart Weddings and I wanted to include a lot of handmade elements. I did all my own invitations, programs, confetti, CD favors, the guestbook, and I hand-beaded all of the guy’s corsages. I felt like I did a lot, but it was nothing compared to all the logistics (and bill$) my parents dealt with, the fun rehearsal dinner my in-laws hosted (thank you Johnsons!), the great job Travis’ uncle did officiating, all the help we had in set-up and in clean-up (thank you, Manns!), all the miles everyone traveled, all the good spirits (thank you, brothers!), and kind words (thank you, everyone!), and patience with the millions of photos and the super-delayed cake cutting… I mean, my sweet sister-in-law sat with me while I cried at the hair dresser before the ceremony, and my extended family all came out to a post-wedding picnic in 100+ degree weather. That is the kind of stuff that I did not notice on the big day because I was too focused on my handsome new husband and our glorious new life, but it is the stuff I think about now and hope that I can pay forward someday.

Thank you, family.