The two were strangers to each other until they met at an Easter gathering hosted by Jordan’s family. Payton was living with Jordan’s cousin at the time, someone she was very close with, and for a while the three of them hung out as close friends. After six months Payton, despite having been forbidden by his roommate, asked Jordan out.
Their first date was Thai food followed by a three-hour stroll through Barnes and Noble.
“Our love for literature and books is something we bonded over early on,” Jordan said.
The pages of their lives flicked on and eventually it came time to sit down and discuss their futures together: Payton had a job offer in Seattle and Jordan was working toward achieving her degree in elementary education. What next?
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She’d been expecting it for a while, but Jordan was still surprised when Payton bent down on one knee in the living room.
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Once they were engaged, the couple decided they didn’t want a celebration that tried to simply meet expectations, but rather something that focused on them. Renting out The Leopold Ballroom, Jordan’s first choice, the two settled on a Harry Potter enchanted library theme and Jordan, passionate about wedding planning, worked with her mother to set everything up.
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Laid out in dark blues and deep greens to match the color scheme were piles of books for wedding guests to take home and read.
The books were gathered from nearby bookstores and some from the bride and groom themselves. Those taken from the couple’s own library where placed in a large chest, guarded only by a note: “Start a new adventure with one of our adventures.”
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Another large book sat alone a table, with “PB and J’s Best Day Ever” scrawled on the cover.
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You wouldn’t find anything under the cover but delicious chocolate cake. But, of course, that was the idea. Even the flowers were books. Well, pages of them at least. At every table stood a bouquet of adventures carefully torn from one of the many Harry Potter novels.
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When the guests were all seated and the ceremony began, Jordan walked down the aisle in a beautiful, Maggie Sottero dress, all white with lacing on the top and sleeves. Harry Potter pages were wrapped around her shoes and flowered into her bouquet. Waiting for her eagerly at the end of the walkway was Payton, dressed in a Ravenclaw-blue suit and a Slytherin-green tie.
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It was then, before family and friends, that Payton, a Ravenclaw fantasy fan, married Jordan, a Slytherin mystery-novel lover, and together they turned the first page of their lives as husband and wife.
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Jordan & Payton
December 30, 2016
By: Nick Jenner
Photos by: Karlyn Beth
Christina Aguilera and Weezer flew from the speakers as Jordan and Payton Baughman mouthed the words in perfect matrimony. The lip-sync duel was performed moments after their marriage and fit right in with the Harry Potter wedding theme.
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Jordan was always a big fan of the books, saying they were one of the main reasons she fell in love with reading. Payton, another book lover, had read the Harry Potter books as well, though perhaps with less avidity than Jordan, him being a fantasy lover himself.
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But Payton reread the entire series nonetheless, just to impress her, Jordan said. He had seen her one day wearing a Harry Potter shirt and quickly seized the opportunity to bond with her, said Jordan, laughing.
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The Details
Food: Memorable Events
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Dress: Maggie Sottero
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Make-Up: Reflexion
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Music: GMB Entertainment
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Venue: The Leopold Ballroom