Prince William and Kate Middleton. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Paulina Gretzky and Dustin Johnson.
Golf’s royal wedding is finally upon us. And that calls for a Rogers Report: Special Edition™.
DJ and Paulina jetsetted to Blackberry Farm in Tennessee on Thursday morning, gearing up for the special weekend ahead. But we have a special weekend ahead, too: This could be the best social media content in golf history. As GOLF’s resident social media gal, I’m willing to do the important work: devote my weekend to following all-things DJ and Paulina.
I’ll keep you updated in real time, right here.
But before we get into the wedding festivities, let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?
THE BACKSTORY
DJ and Paulina got engaged in 2013 after Gretzky’s mother, Janet, set them up. They had a memorable first date: Wayne Gretzky tagged along.
They had their first son, Tatum, in January of 2015.
Fast-forward to June of 2017, when they had their second son, River.
Here’s a picture of the whole gang last year. Side note: Masters shirts are cool to wear, but they’re 10 times cooler to wear when your dad has won there. That’s good news for you, Tatum and River.
In March, DJ and Paulina had a joint bachelor-bachelorette weekend in St. Barth’s.
Okay, on to this week. We knew it was coming up, but Paulina’s Instagram stories on Thursday morning confirmed it.
WEDDING WEEK
DJ kicked things off on Monday with some deep-sea fishing accompanied by his future brother-in-law, Trevor Gretzky.
Look at all those catches! DJ’s a big boat guy, so I’m glad he got to take full advantage.
THURSDAY
On Thursday morning, the Instagram stories began to roll out.
I’ve been training for this. And I used my investigative journalism skills to read the captions, put two and two together and officially confirmed this is the wedding weekend for our two heroes.
And DJ was waiting for his bride in Tennessee with what looks like a nice new purse! Men, take notes.
Let’s pause for a moment here to appreciate DJ’s rustic look. The plaid shirt! The boots! I’d say this look is second only to his Aspen travel fit back in January, but as a Masters champion, the green jacket will always take the No. 1. spot.
Paulina also shared the following images.
No detail is too small! Which is great, because what’s a wedding without a personally-logoed golf cart and cookies with the bride and groom’s faces on them?
On to Thursday evening. DJ and Paulina had an intimate, low-key dinner party to welcome their family and friends.
Just kidding. I’d say this dinner is as nice as dinners get, but I’d just have to take it back once we see what DJ and Paulina have in store for Friday and Saturday night. Look at those table settings! Let’s check out the menu.
I zoomed in on that menu so you don’t have to. The first course included mushroom risotto with parmesan aged balsamic. For an entree, guests had a choice between Miso sea bass with spinach and jasmine rice or wood grilled beef ribeye cap au poivre (don’t ask me to pronounce that) with potato puree and garden greens. And for dessert? Carrot cake with cream cheese and candied pecans. Yum! And like any good party, there was a photo booth.
Everyone dressed up. Here’s Janet and Wayne Gretzky with their daughter and Paulina’s sister, Emma. And for your viewing pleasure, here’s a closer up photo of the DJ, Paulina, Tatum and River.
And look at this sibling photo!
FRIDAY
Rehearsal day! But first, puppies.
I can’t think of a better way to officially kick off any weekend than this right here. Family and guests got to spend some time with some adorable pups before getting gussied up for the rest of the day.
Then Paulina hosted some sort of lunch for her pals.
Looks pretty good to me! On to the rehearsal.
DJ’s brother/caddie AJ and his wife, Sam posed in front of a wall of white roses. Talk about a dream Instagram backdrop.
SATURDAY
Wedding day!
Paulina shared the following note from DJ and I almost lost it because … well, look at that penmanship!
That’s the kind of handwriting I wish I had in high school. Some followers soon pointed out that it was probably either written by the florist or someone who works at Blackberry Farm, which makes a lot more sense. But there were a solid two minutes where I firmly believed that was DJ’s handwriting, and I was shocked.
Looks like the event was phone-free … although, I’m not sure how closely that rule was followed after seeing the below image.
Also, it looks like the after-party snacks were a hit.
Here’s what we’ve seen as far as social media posts from the wedding go.
Wayne getting ready to walk his daughter down the aisle! DJ’s coach, Claude Harmon III, was also in attendance.
And Kid Rock performed!
I’ll be updating this age as we get more content from the Gretzky-Johnson wedding.