Another amazing love story ... Johnny & Kristin!

 Johnny's parents kiss him off while sister Sarah, bride Kristin, and brother/Best Man David laugh on

It was another tear-jerker.  Family Wedding Number Two for 2011: Nephew Johnny Reimann and Dr. Kristin Jacobsen, amazing athlete, veterinarian, and human being.

Kristin Jacobsen had it all mapped out – literally.

 Kristin doesn't like cake, so she ordered an "ice cake" - very Minnesota - which melted beautifully with colored lights during the evening

She had organized a rehearsal dinner at “Spill the Wine,” a trendy restaurant in a restored factory.  She gave everyone in the wedding party spreadsheets so they knew where to be when and how to get there.

Johnny and Kristin’s wedding was quite different from his sister Sarah Likens’ in June.  No church, no minister, no hymns.  It was en pleine air, atop a beautiful terrace at Nicollet Island on the Mississippi River in the heart of downtown Minneapolis.   Across the river, you could see the brick condominium where Johnny and Kristin have lived together for two-plus years.

 

 The wedding party getting ready in the "green room" 

Officiating graciously was Justin Gaard, a childhood friend of Johnny’s and a radio personality in the Twin Cities.  He established his “man of the cloth” position from Universal Life Church, which gives on-line ministerial licenses, and proceeded to crack hilarious jokes even as he performed the simple ceremony beautifully.

  

Lindsey Jacobsen with mother of the bride Liz Jacobsen

Kristin’s beautiful sister Lindsey, as Maid of Honor, watched after the train of Kristin’s wedding gown, and helped Kristin keep her cool as her carefully orchestrated wedding flowed on.  Johnny’s brother David was a solid Best Man, who provided a comical moment as the diamond-studded wedding rings in his pocket got caught on an errant thread when he pulled them out.

 The bridal bouquet

 The ceremony was joyously sparse, with very few frills – just a lot of personal comments most of which had been solicited by the couple ahead of time:  grandmothers’ advice (honesty & first-priority love), their own reasons for marrying each other (integrity and fun), parental suggestions (take alone-time and together-time often).  

 Kristin thanks Grandma Helen for great advice

A lavish reception followed in the adjoining pavilion -- made from the ruins of a boiler factory built in 1886.   There, a photo booth provided guests an opportunity to take funny photos in various styles (b/w, color, sepia, etc.), which went into an album which you signed – a great way to remember more than just the guest list.  Nearby, photos of the weddings of the bride and groom’s parents and grandparents proffered a window into the past. 

  

Gordon and I had fun in the photo booth

After a luscious dinner, we danced late into the night.  Young relatives wowed the group with break-dancing, even as the bride and groom danced with everyone.  The Reimann and Jacobsen clans melded.

 Proud parents Alice and John Reimann - whew, enough weddings for awhile!

The next morning, the grandmothers hosted a brunch at the Westin Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, built around the old Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank, where I had first deposited my coins in elementary school. 

 

Helen, Mark and Gordon enjoy breakfast with the groom the morning after

 

The bride and groom then swept away to their honeymoon in Costa Rica and Belize, where they planned to hike and scuba dive.

 Kristin and Johnny Reimann - the honeymooners - made a quick getaway the next morning

Having two weddings in one year put all our cousins together more than we’ve been for decades.  We enjoyed looking at photos, many card games, a great performance of “Hairspray” at Chanhassan Dinner Theater, and a hike at the family farm (since sold to the Philadelphia Community, a wonderful Theosophical group).

 Cousins Francia Mann, Charlotte Wuepper, my sister Alice (mother of the groom), Lynn and Jim Shaffer - on Nicollet Island

And we noted how few divorces have happened in our family.

A story of love...Sarah and Jeff tie the knot

photos by Brady Willette

It really WAS the most beautiful wedding I’ve ever been to.  And I’ve been to some pretty great ones.

My niece Sarah Reimann married Jeff Likens, and now they’re Mrs. and Mr. Sarah and Jeff Likens!  The service was held at Westminster Presbyterian Church in downtown Minneapolis – a place sacred to our family because my sister Alice and hubby John were married there in 1978.  My dad Otto’s funeral gathered 650 there in 1999.  And it’s a place where many great ecumenical speakers have spoken.  Plus, it’s a gorgeous sanctuary, with big stained glass windows arranged around a central dome. 

First of all, the people were gorgeous.  Michelle Obama’s obesity campaign not much needed here.  The wedding party could all be models.  Many attendees, too.

 My nephews Johnny and David look on as Alice lights a candle

Second, we were treated to luminous music played by my cousins Charlotte Wuepper (on flute) and Francia Mann (on violin), with Francie’s husband Brian accompanying them on piano for one of my favorite pieces (Delibes’ wonderful Flower duet) while the couple lit their own "union candle" and blew out the two their mothers had lit before.  Tears trickled from my eyes.

Reverend Richard Phenow, married to one of Alice’s friends who danced with her in the Edina High School Hornettes precision dance line, officiated in an intensely personal, humorous, affirming, down-home way.  Practical spirituality.  He encouraged a long, heart-melting kiss.

Click on the photo and see if you recognize anyone...

Afterwards, the crowd blew bubbles as the couple exuberantly burst out of the church and headed to the Minikahda Club, where I had learned to swim as a child and where we’ve celebrated many weddings, funerals, and high school reunions. 

John Reimann introduced the wedding party, who sat at their own long table while the rest of us sat at round 10-tops which seemed more intimate than most because the stunning flower arrangements, featuring mock orange, carnations, and hydrangia, were on high “towers” that allowed you to see everyone at the table.  He said, "Before we walked down the aisle, Sarah turned to me and said, 'I'm so ready for this!'" -- and it showed all night.

  Gordon & Mark celebrating on the terrace at the Minikahda Club - the weather was great!

The best men (Jeff’s older brother T.J., and his best friend Brandon Heider) gave heartfelt talks which were revealing about Jeff’s dry humor.  Sarah’s bridesmaids gave moving and hilarious reminiscences about her bawdy leadership at a young age.  The dinner was over-the-top, with Minnesota walleyed pike and boneless beef rib, a vegetable mélange with white and green asparagus, an amazing salad, and chocolate brule for dessert.  (The cake was small and only for the wedding party.)

Sarah and Jeff dreamed up an apt theme of  “new story,” and invited people at the tables to tell stories of first dates, weddings, and about Sarah and Jeff themselves.  Many told hilarious tales.  Jeff, a professional hockey player whose latest gig’s in Ingolstadt, Germany (about an hour from Munich), had a number of his childhood and hockey friends at the wedding.  He and Sarah will live in Germany with their bulldog, Quinn.

 Helen, Alice & Steve at the Club

Sarah, and my sister Alice and her husband John Reimann, have so many friends in Twin Cities area that they had to severely limit the number they could afford to invite. 

One of my favorite moments was when the excellent band played a Lady Gaga tune, and my nephew David rocked out like one of her dancers.  My mother Helen danced along.  Many of us are still dancing.

I wonder whether this generation of young adults – many of whom have lived together and wait until later in their 20s to get married – will have a lower divorce rate than we boomers.  Time will tell.