5 Questions with Shawn Johnson
Shawn talked to us about planning her wedding, and her #justsaidyes moment!
Photo: Cameron Powell Studio
Shawn Johnson is an Olympic gold medalist, Dancing with the Stars champion, and (as if that wasn’t enough)—newly engaged to football player Andrew East! Her proposal was captured on live television; her beau proposed immediately after she threw out the first pitch at a Chicago Cubs game! She talked to us about planning her wedding, and her #justsaidyes moment (don’t forget to share yours with WeddingWire on Instagram for a chance to win fabulous prizes!).
Get to know Shawn and hear about her engagement story below!
WW: Tell us a little bit about your #justsaidyes moment – your proposal was pretty public, wasn’t it? Is that something you always wanted?
SJ: I don’t think it was something I always wanted, I didn’t dream of a public proposal. It was something that I never expected, especially with my fiancé. He’s kind of a romantic but when he plans things they’re very intimate and small, with family and friends, and not on a public stage, so I never in a million years thought that he would do it in the middle of Wrigley Field on live national television. So it was very very shocking, I was shaking the entire time. It was perfect.
WW: What’s been the most fun part of wedding planning?
SJ: Definitely the wedding dress. Every girl grows up looking at wedding dress pictures, spending thousands of hours on Pinterest looking at them. Going through that whole process, I’m doing a custom wedding dress with Olia Zavozina, and designing it, going through the fabrics and the sketches is a lot of fun. I’ve gotten to do that with my future mother-in-law, my mom, and all of my bridesmaids. That was a fun process.
WW: What’s been the hardest part of planning so far?
SJ: Definitely the budget. 150% the budget, because Andrew and I are paying for the wedding. Between the two of us, coming an agreement on a budget is very hard. We definitely aren’t on the same page, but we’re getting there. So, um, Andrew went into the entire process thinking an high-end wedding was maybe, max $10,000. And I was like “oh, okay, we really need to have a conversation. A venue alone can cost that!” It was definitely an eye-opening experience for him.
WW: Can you talk a little bit about some of the tools that have helped you the most with planning your wedding?
SJ: Honestly, WeddingWire’s website. We were getting into bands or DJs, kind of Googling everything and WeddingWire kept popping up so I went onto the site and we were looking at bands and DJ and different kinds of music that we could potentially bring into the wedding, so it’s been super helpful.
WW: What advice would you give to couples planning their weddings?
SJ: Make it fun. I feel like when Andrew and I first went into it, every couple we knew who was married or engaged said it was the most stressful time of their lives and we just laughed and were like we don’t understand how that is possible. But, as soon as we got engaged, we figured it out very fast, and I think keeping it fun and lighthearted and remembering that it is a very special day and not getting wrapped up in too many things like the budget.
