Jenna Johnson and Val Chmerkovskiy’s Dance-Filled Wedding: Remembering Every Detail
From the start of her wedding plans, Jenna Johnson knew she’d be choreographing a big first dance. It was just not the one that everyone was expecting.
“All I wanted to do was slow dance with my husband,” she told People of her decision to merely sway with fellow pro Val Chmerkovskiy during their April 13, 2019 nuptials, despite their meeting on Dancing With the Stars.
“I’m sure a lot of people expected a choreographed dance, but we wanted to make it real and authentic.”
As a result, she chose to save the antics for her father, Curt Johnson.
Not long after Val’s proposal in June 2018, the concept came to mind. She was conversing with her father back home in Utah, showing off her new cushion-cut diamond, when his favorite song, “Uptown Funk,” came on.
She told Brides, “I kind of looked at him and was like, ‘Could you imagine if we did this?'” He smiled and shrugged it off, as if it weren’t a real thing. “
That’s how the normally reserved father of five found himself mid-number transitioning from Frank Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight” to a sunglass-wearing, Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars-powered, Jenna-choreographed, full-on routine that stunned and delighted the 200 guests in attendance, including the groom himself.
“Everyone just started cheering and freaking out,” Jenna said of the moment that almost didn’t happen since her father almost backed out a minute before the wedding celebration.
“Val was perplexed as she stood up. He was completely oblivious to what was going on. It was fantastic! “
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Actually, it’s an apt word for the entire day.
At the time, Val had already pulled off the Venetian proposal he had envisioned after visiting Italy at the age of 17 (“I vowed myself then that the next time I came back to Venice, I would propose to the lady I wanted to spend the rest of my life with,” he told People). Fifteen years later (“I kept my word”), the pair decided to go all out for their wedding day romance.
So you think you can dance? Contestant Vera Wang walks down the petal-strewn island to the strains of a string quartet in her long-sleeved Vera Wang. Jenna, 28, married her Brooks Brothers-clad groom, 36, under a chuppah adorned with Tibetan roses, ranunculus, lisianthus, garden roses, and peonies, with the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop.
The Terranea Resort in Rancho Palo Verdes, California, provided the scenery, but the pair brought the emotion, exchanging self-penned vows and matching rose gold Jacob & Co. wedding bands in a ceremony that “integrated a few key customs” from each of their families, as Jenna described it.
Of course, both sides made their moves.
Following a dinner of braised short rib and dill crusted salmon, wilted baby kale, and parmesan mashed potatoes, the spouses surprised each other with carefully crafted surprises—Jenna choreographing her dance with her father during a pre-wedding trip home to Utah, and Val surprising her with his own surprise performance.
Despite the fact that the newlyweds’ first dance to Michael Bublé’s version of “La Vie en Rose” was mostly unscripted (“We wanted this to be in the moment, special for the two of us, and we just wanted to be real humans and not dancers,” she explained to Brides), Val added his own surprise interlude, breaking into a violin serenade mid-song.
Jenna enthused to Brides of her Ukranian-born fiance, “I hadn’t ever heard him practice this or anything in the house, so it was a shock to me.” “That was incredibly amazing, and it kind of cemented our first dance in my mind.”
Peta Murgatroyd’s Instagram
Eli’s Band, based in Los Angeles, kicked off their live act with a mix of classic favorites, hip-hop, and salsa songs hand-picked by the couple.
“We kind of went through with them and told them our favorite genres of music and what we wanted the guests to appreciate,” Jenna said, who changed into a cap-sleeve dress made by Tony Ward for Kleinfeld Bridal for the reception.
The crowd didn’t disappoint, with a guest list heavy on Dancing With the Stars alums—naturally, Val’s older brother, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, acted as best man, while Jenna had former partner Adam Rippon and fellow pro Lindsay Arnold by her side.
Hayley Erbert, Witney Carson, Emma Slater, Sasha Farber, Mark Ballas, Cheryl Burke, Alan Bersten, Artem Chigvintsev, and Brandon Armstrong, as well as the couple’s past partners Joe Amabile, Normani Kordei, Laurie Hernandez, and Ginger Zee, as well as Jenna’s whole crew, crowded the floor.
John Parra
She told Brides about one of the night’s highlights: “My arm was suddenly being grabbed, and it was Val. “You have to come see this,” he said.
My entire family—my parents, siblings, and their spouses—were all grooving out on the dance floor. My brothers aren’t dancers, so seeing them out there embracing the night and dancing the night away was incredible.
Jenna told Brides that she wanted to “relive that day over and over again.”
Of course, there will be more unforgettable moments to come. Because of [her], my life has changed, and I’ve discovered myself to be the finest version of myself that I’ve ever been, “Val gushed to People about his bride. “She’s incredible.”