Nugon -Arminio

With the anticipation of a proposal during the 2009 Easter Weekend in New Orleans, John Norman Arminio could not wait one more day to propose to Katherine Elinor Nugon. After a romantic home-cooked meal at Katie’s home, John called Katie’s mother, Peggy Maught, while Katie was in the other room.

During the phone call, John told his soon to be mother-in-law that he could not wait until Easter Weekend because it was all he could think about. As soon as Katie walked into the room, John blurted out “Will you marry me?” Her answer was an immediate, “Yes!”

The two met in 2009 through a mutual friend, Jenni Miller, who set up a dinner with a group of friends. Jenni was a teacher with Katie, and John went to Vanderbilt with her.

The Arminios arrived to New Orleans the Wednesday before the wedding and Katie’s stepfather, Adrien Maught – fondly known as “Chip” – gave a Welcome to New Orleans Party for both families at Antonie’s. The party took over the Rex Room complete with do-rag hats.

Katie and John wed on March 6, 2010 at St. Mary’s of the Assumption Church. The location was suggested when Peggy attended a wedding there and immediately fell in love with it. John’s mother, Susan Arminio, loved the idea of marrying at the Father Silos Shrine and his father, Mark Arminio, was a communicant at the service.

Since Katie’s father passed away, her big brother Robert Nugon walked her down the aisle. Robert was also a reader at mass.

Katie fell in love with her dress even before an engagement crossed her mind. She went shopping with one of her friends, Kisty Bowen, in Atlanta. Kisty tried on the Melissa Sweet dress, but decided on another one for her own wedding. During one of Katie’s trips to New Orleans, Peggy brought her to Town and Country to try on wedding dresses. Fortunately, Town and Country had the Melissa Sweet sample and Katie fell for the vintage style all over again.

The bridesmaids wore J.Crew strapless cocktail dresses in moss green with large bows around the bodice. John and the groomsmen wore navy suits, white shirts and purple ties with a stitched fleur-de-lis.

After the ceremony, the wedding party moved to the Orleans Club, their ideal location because the older building added the New Orleans pizzazz Katie and John desired. The family also had a real connection with the building because Peggy is the assistant manager for the Orleans Club and Katie just recently became a new member.

Meade Wenzel of New Orleans did the floral arrangements. The couple decided that they didn’t want just one color theme, so Meade created an array of color with her floral arrangements.

Chef Will Guidry of the Orleans Club prepared the food for the reception. He created sliced tenderloin, spinach crêpes with Holandaise sauce, crawfish pasta and crab cakes. There were trays of Joan Farrell Bride and Groom cookies and café au lait. The wedding cake was of almond cake with lemon filling by Swiss bakery. It was pure white with Swiss dots. Meade put a small bouquet on top of the cake to match the floral arrangements.

Neil Hurd did the photographs for Katie and John. The family did usual family portraits for the wedding but Katie requested to have many candid shots of the guests and not stuffy, posed pictures. The one planned photo, as request by Peggy, was Katie and the bridesmaids on the huge four poster bed in the Brides room at the Orleans Club.

Katie and John began the reception with their first dance, “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You,” by Rod Stewart. Harvey Jesus and the Fire created an extensive play list that included classic wedding hits and the couple’s personal favorites. All the guests were having a blast dancing to the band and didn’t want the reception to end.

Peggy found special mementos: little, white cowbells with brightly colored bows on them. The bells were passed out on trays to all the guests to “ring” the happily married couple out of the reception. Everyone was ringing the bells to the beat of the band as guests helped Katie and John to the waiting limo.

Katie and John went to Playa del Carmen, Mexico for a week and currently live in Atlanta, Ga. Katie teaches at The Schenck School, a school for dyslexic students while John is a group insurance executive with Kaiser Permanente.
 

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