Couple vying for N.Y. wedding

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Apr 7, 2008 by Sara Israelsen-Hartley Deseret Morning News

OREM -- Not many brides have to worry about the color of their flowers clashing with the lush red carpet at a New York City movie premiere.

But if Katherine Johnson, 20, and her fiance, Matthew Brown, 23, get their wish, that's one small detail they'd be happy to overlook.

Johnson and Brown, students at Brigham Young University and Utah Valley State College, respectively, are one of four final couples competing in the Made of Honor wedding contest -- all hoping for the grand prize of an all-expenses-paid wedding and honeymoon.

Sponsored by Columbia TriStar Marketing Group Inc. and The Knot Inc., the contest coincides with the premiere and release of "Made of Honor," a new romantic comedy starring Patrick Dempsey.

If the couple get enough votes this week, they'll be flown to New York City on April 22 to be married on the red carpet -- Brown in a tuxedo and Johnson in a Selia Yang wedding dress with a bridal bouquet and both wearing Damiani diamond wedding bands.

After the ceremony and the press circuit, winners can take their six-day honeymoon trip to Paris and Venice, and plan how to spend their $10,000 cash gift.

Brown said he's actually more excited about the gift card to Bed, Bath & Beyond.

"Here's my $3,000 gift card, give me four shopping carts," the cooking aficionado said, dreaming of all the Calphalon cook sets he could buy with three grand.

Plus, the extra $10,000 would help pay off student loans and tuition for the Scottsdale Culinary Institute, where Brown was just accepted.

"This is more than luck," Arizona-native Johnson said. "This is us getting blessed."

It's been a rush for the couple, who said they've never done anything like this before.

"I never win anything," Johnson said. "I'm like the unluckiest girl. To be in the top four, I'm really excited."

But she admits she was skeptical at first, especially when Brown told her he was entering the contest because of a flashing ad he saw on the Web site Facebook late one night in mid-March.

Sure, he could send in a quick essay about when he knew he and Johnson were meant to be together. He described a day in December, when they were swinging on his porch swing, buried under a pile of blankets. Everything just seemed perfect, he wrote, and falling in love had been so easy.

Once the judges were convinced, it was on to round two, where they had to submit a video.

Brown, from Orem, created a montage of the activities he and Johnson like to do together, always showing Kat as the better performer, which he insists she is.

Thursday morning, they got the call informing them they were finalists.

"I really think we're gonna win it," Brown said during an interview with the Deseret Morning News, looking at Johnson with a huge grin on his face. "I knew it when I submitted the essay."

Johnson laughed, still trying to downplay the excitement, in case they don't actually win.

"Why would they pick us?" she said.

"We're like the hottest couple alive," Brown said in mock seriousness, squeezing his fiancee's hand.

The lovebirds first met as Johnson was walking to work at Sizzler. Matthew was driving the opposite way but had a feeling he should say hi to her. So he flipped a U-turn on University Avenue and went back.

"The first thing out of his mouth is, 'Do you work at Sizzler?"' Katherine said, adding that the word Sizzler is plastered everywhere on her uniform. "I look at him and think, OK, this one's a little slow."

They ended up talking briefly and Brown informed her he was going to be her boss soon, having just transferred from another restaurant.

As they got to know each other, Brown said he knew they would date, but had to figure out different ways to approach the situation, since he was her manager.

"He was so funny," Johnson said. "It always attracted me how funny he was."

Brown never asked for Johnson's number, but would try over and over to give her his number. He even told her point blank that she should call him because he was free that Friday.

Then, one night he invited her to play games, promising at least 20 other friends would come.

"He comes and picks me up and there's not a single soul," Johnson said, shaking her head. Precisely what Brown planned, he said.

They spent the entire evening talking and that's when Johnson realized they could be more.

After switching restaurants to avoid a boss-employee relationship, they dated for nearly a year before Matthew popped the question on March 9.

For now, they've put their non-red-carpet August wedding on slight hold. They'll just be spreading the word about voting this Monday through Friday on www.sonypictures.com/movies/madeofhonor.

Both are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and are still working out details with their LDS bishop about how a temple sealing can be arranged if they win.

"Mostly I think it would be a fun little adventure," Johnson said. "And such a sweet story for our kids."

"This is like 'American Idol' for us," Brown said. "We want to win it."