Vines and Vows: An Elegant Utah Spring Wedding

After Rachel and Dan got engaged, Rachel originally wanted an outdoor, elegant Utah spring wedding, but knew the weather in Utah can be unpredictable in May, so they opted for a beautiful ceremony space with a stunning garden just outside.

“I did my best to utilize the garden of my venue and bring it into the space.”

And the venue was where it all started. “I actually chose the colors (champagne for the bridesmaid dresses and blush for the florals) later in the process. It all started with selecting Twenty and Creek as our venue; Dan knew it was going to be Twenty and Creek the moment we walked in. The space felt like the right fit from the start as it was elegant and timeless, with details in design and architecture that I love.”

“The colors and materials supported the atmosphere, but the real impact came from how each element contributed to the overall feeling we wanted to create.”

Say Yes to the Dress at Kleinfeld

When it came to choosing their wedding theme and aesthetic, Rachel and Dan wanted it to feel “classy, clean, timeless, and elegant,” with lots of greenery as their inspo. And the green vines you see wrapping down the grand staircase match the vines on Rachel’s iconic wedding dress, right from Kleinfeld in New York.

“My sister lives in New York, and she was really bummed to be missing out on so much of the wedding planning process. We were going to New York for Thanksgiving, and she was like, ‘Hey, I’m going to make an appointment at Kleinfeld. Not that you have to buy anything, but just because you’re engaged, why wouldn’t we?’”

“I went with my mom, my sister, and my sister-in-law. And again, it was just a fun thing to do on our vacation. But it was the first dress I tried on, and I immediately fell in love with it. It felt iconic that we went to Kleinfeld and got a dress.”

Making it Modest

And then came the magical seamstress Heming and Fitz, someone that Dan knew from high school, who was able to take Rachel’s iconic dress and make it garment-friendly for their LDS temple ceremony the following day.

Dan says, “She really can work miracles. I know she was pretty skeptical about what Rachel brought into her, and we knew it was going to be really hard to make this garment-friendly, but she did such a good job.”

Rachel laughs that, “This dress had kind of become my dream in the month since I bought it,” because it was so much fun to be able to find it in New York and have that experience with her sister. But she also wanted to wear it out of the temple. “Once I found the dress, everything else started to fall into place.”

Dan adds, “I thought the dress was really special, the way that Rachel did it, because she wanted to wear the dress out of the temple, but she also really wanted that dress because she fell in love with it. And she was able to find a way to do both of those things and make it work.”

Civil Ceremony and a Religious Sealing

After finding their venue and the dress of her dreams, they considered having a civil ceremony before their LDS temple sealing ceremony the next day, and that’s ultimately what they ended up doing.

“We both felt very strongly about it. We have a lot of family members and friends that we wanted included; I wanted each ceremony to be two specific, different things, by having a wedding that included all of our family members, even those family members who wouldn’t be able to go to the temple, and then separating it from the sealing, and allowing that to be its own event, without one overshadowing the other. Nobody felt like they were being left out, and we were able to honor both parts of the wedding by including family and the religious part, which is so important to us as well.”

Why condense your elegant Utah spring wedding to just one day when you can celebrate for two days instead?

Speaking of ceremonies, saying their vows to one another was one of Rachel’s favorite moments from the whole wedding.

“That’s the moment that all of the build-up led to; it was so nice to relax and be with everybody, but to be there especially with Dan.” Rachel’s uncle was the officiant for their ceremony, and everybody loved it, but most especially Rachel.

“I kind of sprung it on him at the last minute. We were going back and forth about who was going to officiate, and then ultimately we landed on my uncle, and he did such a good job. It was so much of a build-up for so long, and then the ceremony was very sweet and meaningful for us to have everybody there.”

Paying Homage to Loved Ones

Having her uncle officiate helped Rachel feel the presence of her dad, who had recently passed.

“One of the hardest parts of planning was knowing my dad wouldn’t be there. He passed away from cancer in September of 2023, and navigating that absence, especially during moments that traditionally include the father of the bride, was emotionally complicated. I wanted to honor him without making the day feel heavy, so I looked for quiet ways to include him.”

“My dad’s brother performed the ceremony, which was one of the most meaningful parts of the day. His presence felt familiar and comforting, his voice, his mannerisms, even the way he carried the moment, reminded me so much of my dad.”

Rachel also honored her father with a gift from her mom just before they walked down the aisle together: a pendant with a photo of her and her dad, and the words “I love you” engraved in her dad’s handwriting.

“She surprised me with a small pendant attached to my bouquet, so he was walking down the aisle with us and stayed with me throughout the day.”

Rachel also danced with her brothers to “La Vie en Rose,” a nod to her dad’s love for France. “Balancing grief with celebration wasn’t easy, but it helped to focus on what he would’ve wanted for me. That mindset allowed me to move forward with intention and gratitude, even in the moments that felt bittersweet.”

Rachel’s pendant wasn’t the only meaningful gift from her mom; she also gifted Dan with cufflinks that had the Johnston family crest on them during their speeches.

Incorporating Family Traditions

Another fun family tradition that Rachel always knew she wanted was having her grandmother’s pound cake.

“My grandma is from North Carolina and is an incredible cook, and she’s famous for her pound cake. She had pound cake at her wedding, my mom had pound cake at her wedding, all my siblings have had pound cake, so I wanted pound cake. And I wanted that since I was a little girl. So my grandma baked two loaves every weekend; for months, she was baking pound cakes. And then a couple of days before the wedding, my sisters and I, and my cousins, all went over and frosted the pound cakes.”

And the rest of the details from their elegant Utah spring wedding day, from the pound cake to the jars of honey as wedding favors from Dan’s family’s orange groves, were a perfect mix of honoring their families in special ways and embracing the elegant yet simple details.

A Dance Party for Everyone

But beyond the meaningful details and special moments, looking back, Rachel and Dan both loved their dance party at their reception.

“Looking back, one of the things we’re most thankful for is that we fully embraced the dance floor. Neither of our families is big on dancing, so I went in with low expectations, and yet every single person from both sides ended up on the floor, which was such a sweet surprise and created memories I’ll always treasure.”

And the dancing was Dan’s favorite part of the wedding day. “I had two of my really good friends DJ, and Rachel was so worried about it, but they did a really good job. They had a professional setup that they rented and had a bunch of songs in there that were super meaningful to us.”

A dance party is the perfect way to bring together all of your loved ones to celebrate, and Rachel and Dan’s elegant Utah spring wedding did exactly that.

Make it Yours

Their advice for couples is to embrace the moments that you want to have, even if that means straying from tradition. They embraced certain traditions like not seeing the bride until the moment she walks down the aisle, but in other ways changed it up in ways that made more sense to them.

“You don’t have to do everything exactly how it’s prescribed. We really constructed from scratch the day that we wanted to have, and made sure that we were going to have fun, and we were going to do it the way we wanted to. Have fun and plan the party that you want to have, because it’s all about you.”

It also doesn’t hurt to have a wedding planner who makes everything run perfectly. “Details by Laura Lee was truly the glue that held everything together. Her eye for detail and calm presence made the entire planning process feel manageable, and on the day itself, she executed everything flawlessly. She already had strong relationships with many of the vendors, which made everything feel seamless from the start. She knew how to communicate with them, how they worked best, and how to bring everyone together in a way that felt effortless. Because of her, I felt like I could be fully present, so could my mom and the rest of my family. We weren’t worrying about logistics or timelines; we were able to just enjoy the day. It all ran so smoothly, and I’m incredibly grateful for how she helped create that space for us.”

Take it from these two, it’s the small, meaningful details that all add up to become the wedding of your dreams. And when it turns out as good as this one, it won’t be hard to be excited about how it all came together.